


The Magpie's Son

by Blue_Sparkle



Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Awkward First Time, Blowjobs, Criminal Activities, F/M, Family Feels, Fluff, Like mother like son, M/M, Minor Character Death, Thieves Guilds, War, and apply in future chapters, dori & nori & ori - Freeform, mama ri is a thief, papa ri is a guardsman, relationships tags will be added, the brothers are still children
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-22
Updated: 2014-07-28
Packaged: 2018-01-05 11:24:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 42,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1093324
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blue_Sparkle/pseuds/Blue_Sparkle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kori, the mother of Dori, Nori and Ori, was a thief before she even met the future father of her children, and she never truly stopped being one. When her second son was old enough to learn, she started teaching him all she knew of her craft</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. amethysts

The streets of Erebor’s less busy market districts resounded with the soft steps of a young thief and the clatter of the guard’s armour and weapon harness as he chased her with a determination that wouldn’t let him stop no matter how many obstacles were in his way or how many alleys he nearly ran past when she ducked into them at the last possible moment. They ran past the Dwarves who all jumped out of the ways, until there were fewer and fewer around and in the end none at all.

The thief was growing slower, choosing tinier streets and alleys, and in the end she took a turn leading to a blind end, making her have to swirled around and giving the guardsman the time to finally catch up with her. She didn’t even flinch when Hrafn crashed into her, pushing her to the ground with all his weight and the edge of his sword against her torso, holding her in place so that she couldn’t throw him off and escape the arrest.

 

“Thief” he gritted out through his teeth, trying to force his breath to be calm again, just as she smiled, the corners of her eyes crinkling as she did the same underneath him. “Always causing trouble on my watch.”

Hrafn let the hand that wasn’t holding his sword trail up to her head, sinking his fingers into the intricate net of braids her hair was woven into. Kori laughed, quietly and shakily, as much out of breath as he was, just not showing it so much with the sword so close to her body.

“Would it be fun any other way?”

She mumbled slightly, barely opening her mouth and Hrafn rolled his eyes at both her words and the realization of why she spoke as she did.

He brushed the tips of his fingers against Kori’s lips softly and she smirked.

“Out with it then.”

“As you please.”

Kori closed her mouth and worked her jaw, when she opened it again she was grinning and the jewel she had stolen shone between her teeth. Hrafn snatched it out, barely avoiding being bitten as her teeth snapped shut again.

“Clever girl” he grumbled appreciatively, despite himself. He knew, most of the other guards wouldn’t have thought of thoroughly searching a sweet and young woman like Kori seemed to be, and especially not for anything she’d have hidden in her mouth. That was how she avoided being arrested for the most part, seeming just the wrong type to be involved in any crimes.

Kori laughed as if she was a little lass who had just been complimented for her braids by an admirer, and she slid down slightly in Hrafn’s loosened grip, lying against the wall comfortably and wrapping her legs around his. He paid no attention to what she was doing, as he examined the tiny ring with the set in amethysts, or tried to; it wasn’t easy to concentrate on anything when Kori was stretching out beneath him and playing with his loosely braided hair.

“Why did you steal this one?” he asked and cradled the ring in his palm as Kori tugged at the braid she had given him herself, a tiny one, tied off with knotted ribbon rather than a bead. The ring was very small, just the right colours for Kori but it wouldn’t even fit on her pinkie. And Hrafn knew she wouldn’t go around stealing trinkets such as this, which she didn’t want for herself.

“I liked it.” Her fingers caught in the tiny loops of the knot and she gave a little pull, fiddling with Hrafn’s braid thoughtfully. He tried to ignore that, too.

“You have no use for this, it’s too small for you, and if you wanted to sell something you’d have gone for the bigger ones.”

“Will you live up to your promise any time soon?” Kori asked and glanced up underneath her lashes. “Make me a honest Dwarrow in the near future?” It made Hrafn’s cheeks heat up, having her play with the braid she made, but he couldn’t let that distract him, he was still a guardsman after all.

He kissed her round nose and smiled. “Yes, as honest as one like you could ever be. But you must tell me why you decided to steal something you don’t even have a use for right now. If you simply wanted to get my attention while I’m on duty you could have taken anything else.”

“Perhaps I _do_ have a use for it, my treasured.”

Hrafn scoffed. “Why, at this size it’s a child’s ring, none of your kin or friend’s have a child-“

He stopped at how her smile had widened at that. He frowned and stared at her, Kori’s smile only growing until she laughed and grabbed his wrist, pulling his hand to her belly.

“You think?”

“Kori-“

“Because that might change in the future.”

Hrafn dropped the sword and the ring to the ground, using his hand to prop himself up better, pressing the other against Kori’s body.

“Are you saying… Kori are you saying that you are- expecting-“ his voice brocke and he let out a startled little laugh as the thief nodded.

“I am carrying a child! I have suspected for weeks, but the healer confirmed it today.”

She wrapped her arms around Hrafn’s body, grinning as he tried to comprehend what she had just told him.

“My ruby-“ he managed to get out. “We… We will have a _child_?”

“Yes, yes! You will be a father, Hrafn, it is true-”

She made a small sound of protest as he kissed her mid sentence, but pulled him closer nevertheless. He kept kissing her again and again, her cheeks, her nose and her lips, never letting her get a word out and she didn’t seem to mind that much. 

“My magpie” he said finally. “Who’d have thought that you and me would ever be in such a situation. My little thief, mother to my child.” Hrafn laughed at the absurdity, sure that he’d have gotten angry if anyone had told him about this a couple of years back.

He wrapped his arms around Kori’s middle, pulling her closer so that her body was arched up into his and he could rub their noses together. She shifted at the motion, and it was then that Hrafn realized that lying on the cold and dirty ground in some back alley wasn’t an adequate way to celebrate such joyful news.

“Let us go somewhere else, please, this is no place to lie about.”

Kori’s legs wrapped around his hips when he tried to get up and help her, too.

“You have never minded our back alleys, guardsman” she teased with a soft smile.

“Alleys are nice for a thief who won’t even come round my family’s house, but the least suitable place imaginable to celebrate with your darling wife” Hrafn replied and adjusted his grip on her to stand up while still holding her up. She was stockier than him, but small, so it wasn’t too hard to carry her over long distances, even in his armour.

She smiled, pleased despite herself.

“Not quite wife, just betrothed” she reminded him.

“Isn’t this just a matter of formality at this point?” Hrafn asked, and spread his hand over Kori’s belly possessively. 

“Hmmm, indeed” she agreed and leaned her head against his shoulder, making herself comfortable. “Then would you be so kind and carry the little one and me to my house and over the threshold?” 

Hrafn leaned down to pick up his sword and the ring without having to drop her, then nodded and adjusted his grip. He carried her through the streets and past the market, humming a little song as he felt Kori smiling against his neck.


	2. pearls

Dori son of Hrafn was born in late spring, a healthy child, all round and big and his tiny red face showing strong resemblance to his mother, even while he was crying and wriggling in the midwife’s arms. Kori cried in relief as her child was placed into her arms and Hrafn knelt down beside her to watch their son in wonder.

Once Hrafn finally dared to pick up the child he refused to hand him back for quite some time, and even then he would keep returning to hold his sleeping son in his arms and quietly talk to him or brush his hand over Dori’s soft light hair and whiskers, or he would watch over the cradle instead.

Kori recovered from the pregnancy and birth fairly quickly, and Dori was a calm baby, not too much to handle for a young mother who had no experience at all. Still, Hrafn had asked for leave and shorter work times in order to help his wife as much as he could, both of them expecting difficulties. Even though he might have gone back to the guardhouse for more work, with how well she managed their new situation, he decided to stay and help as much as he could anyway.

It was nice really, to be able to spend more time for herself than she would have had while watching her child full time. Kori didn’t do that much in the first months after the birth, mostly she used the opportunity to get back into shape as soon as she could, which wasn’t as hard as she feared it would be. It was nice, just disappearing into the less guarded districts of Erebor’s undercity, where the guards didn’t bother keeping the thugs and thieves at bay too much.

A few hours of every week Kori would return to where she had spend most evenings when she was younger and still learning to be a thief like them, alongside her more or less proper craft. Her old friends welcomed her back cheerfully, and complained loudly about Kori not returning as often as she used to.

“Magpie we miss you and your quick fingers!” they’d shout as soon as she entered, and she’d just laugh and say that she would come back but wasn’t up for any cons or stealing and burglary, no matter how good the share she was offered was. She wouldn’t bring Dori either, despite questions and congratulations she received from those few who had heard of her having a child, and with a guardsman no less.

They had always made fun of that, claiming that Kori surely must be tired of life, with picking an enemy for a lover, or saying that she truly was a master charmer to have gotten one who could arrest her but didn’t. Others said it was cheating, for while Hrafn was technically a guard, he was a gentle soul and one of those who barely were involved with the known criminals and willing to overlook what they were doing as long as it wasn’t outright illegal.

Hrafn was spending most of his time looking after Dori, and Kori knew he wouldn’t appreciate having to let his son out of sight and especially not for her to take a baby to where a bunch of criminals was gathered. He wasn’t that happy about her going either, though she had promised to stop stealing early in her pregnancy. There was no need for it, with having their own little house, and her not being the only one to earn money.

Dori grew older, and the quiet baby turned into a quiet and serious little toddler, learning his first steps and following one of his parents around whenever possible. Hrafn returned to his guard duty, though he didn’t work full time just yet. Kori put up a small loom in their living room, and would work on that or make clothes for Dori as he played close to her. 

Sometimes Hrafn would take him along to work, and apparently Dori enjoyed it a great deal, impressed by the building and guard. Later he’d tell Kori all about it, and she’d laugh and nod along, as if she hadn’t seen it all dozens of times, mostly while they tried to decide whether to actually throw her in a cell and for how long. 

*-*-*-*-*

 

The years went by and Kori had never been happier, seeing her son grow into a sweet lad, always there to help or watch and learn when she knitted or worked at her loom, or when Hrafn practiced with his training sword. She loved her lads, she enjoyed making things for them, and their life was easy, secure, there never were moments she _really_ had to worry about anything.

Their life was good, Kori worked on her loom, Hrafn continued to be a guard, Dori grew into a young child and soon enough Kori realized that she was overdue and once again there was a child growing inside her. 

This time she didn’t reveal it to Hrafn with something as grand as a stolen trinket, instead she sneaked into the guardhouse and whispered it into his ear after startling him from behind. He laughed and spun her around in his arms, all his friends and guardsmen congratulating them and knocking foreheads, happy enough to forget that no civilian was supposed to be there at that time.

She wasn’t sure whether this pregnancy was easier than the last or harder. For once, she now knew what to expect, but the knowledge of all complications that were bound to happen already made her weary. Hrafn didn’t become less worried about it all either, it even seemed like he was hovering by Kori’s side even more than the last time, and Dori was also there, trying to make sure his mum and sibling were ok.

Kori was touched by how her family tried to take care of her and make everything comfortable, but with either of them always there to watch she couldn’t spend the last months of actually being able to move around unconstrained with wandering the streets or letting her fingers wander over the displays on the market without actually taking a thing. That wasn’t bad, just a little boring.

It was the middle of autumn when her second son was finally born, Nori, a smaller baby than Dori had been, with his hair being nearly the same colour as Hrafn’s red and brown, and just as soft. That night Kori lay in bed with Hrafn leaning against her and Dori sitting on her other side, all watching the tiny bundle in her arms. It was a blissful moment and Kori didn’t fall asleep even deep into the night, though her lads had, and Nori would wake crying softly and fall asleep again every few minutes, soothed by his mother’s gentle hands. 

Life didn’t change that much, apart from Nori being much more like the midwives and older mothers had predicted for Kori’s first pregnancy, crying louder and more often than Dori, and wanting attention more than he had as a baby. Nori would be calm and happy when Kori held him in her arms though, and he’d sleep soundly if it was near his parents and brother.

Hrafn didn’t stop with his work as he had before, what with two children in the family and Kori insisting that she had more experience and would do fine on her own. And she did, it wasn’t hard to take care of the baby by herself, and Dori didn’t mind watching after his brother either, when she couldn’t. It was boring sometimes, spending a bunch of days in a row doing nothing special, and while it was all right most of the time, there were also moments when Kori wanted to go out and do something stupid. Preferably one of the things she had promised Hrafn she wouldn’t do again.

Once Nori got older and learnt how to walk and climb on the furniture everyone’s life got a little harder. He just wouldn’t sit still, and the better he got at crawling and walking the more Dori complained about the mess he tried to make of their room or their father’s weapons and their mother’s wool. Nori behaved himself when Kori was there, and mostly also when Hrafn was near, but he seemed to like pulling Dori’s whiskers or pretending to not hear or understand him when talked to.

More than once Hrafn had to grab both children by their collars and shake them until they stopped trying to punch or bite one another and once Nori figured out how to hide Dori’s favourite toys and his school work Kori had to spend way too much trying to convince him to show her where he did that.

There was no helping it, Kori had to keep an eye on him as much as possible before Nori got old enough to grow out of it and play with other children his age and go to school, making it even less likely for her to just go and climb the next roof and think about all the things she might steal without anyone noticing, if she were still doing that.

Just knowing that she couldn’t and shouldn’t for her children’s sake, and because she promised Hrafn made her want to do it even more. If she were caught it’d be not only herself to be harmed from it though, and over and over Kori reminded herself that she was a mother and _shouldn’t_.

She had to remind herself about it again, as she took a walk through the market, with Nori in her arms. He was toying with her braid, half asleep and not moving much so that Kori could walk comfortably without having to adjust her hold too much. There was nothing important she had to buy, but there was a nice breeze coming through the tunnel systems of Erebor, and she thought it’d be nice to have Nori get out and see something new (even though he was napping through most of it), and there were some pies she could get for the evening.

The displays around her were mostly jewels though, pretty trinkets and fine gems that she’d have loved to pick up just to see if she could, and once in a while she caught herself calculating how and where she might sell things if she took them out of habit.

She shouldn’t, really she didn’t need the money and stealing just because she could was something she might have done while being a lightheaded young girl, but not a Dwarrowdam with two little children, a husband and a respectable life. Truly, it was not something one should be even considering as a possibility, especially with one of the children present, no matter how easy it’d be to pick up one of the chains and lockers.

Nori was asleep, but him just being there meant that Kori had to behave herself accordingly to how mothers had to be, with even the technically legal but frowned upon things being out of the question. Her dress was a nice one and something that might get damaged should she have to run or climb around in case guards noticed her, and it’d be a shame if that happened. Stealing was not a habit she would ever return to, not while her sons were still children at least. 

But the small hairpiece made out of tiny pearls assembled together was not something its righteous owner would miss anyway and it was an easy thing to casually pick it up in passing and stuff it down the front of her bodice before shifting Nori in her arms to disguise the movements, he was dozing and wouldn’t see or tell anyone later. She was long out of sight when she heard a small commotion from behind, probably from the vendor noticing the missing piece.

Kori carried on, falling into her best ‘I am absolutely innocent and feel no guilt about any happenings whatsoever’ walk, one that was good to fool people who did not actually know who they were looking for. Soon enough she heard the heavy steps of a guard approaching her from behind, and she made sure to only look when he was right next to her, making a movement as if to grab her or simply cut her off as she walked.

“Is something the matter?” she asked lightly, shifting her stance to appear as if she really just stopped for an amiable chat.

The guardsman was one she might have seen before, from the few times she was chased through the streets in her younger years, but she wasn’t sure, and if he recognized her from anywhere he wasn’t likely to connect her to a thief or troublemaker.

“There was a theft, a piece of jewellery was taken and nobody saw the thief” he replied gruffly and glared at Kori with the suspicions look that seemed to be part of the marketplace-guard job description. 

Kori smiled at that, pretending not to know what the guard would imply next.

“I wish I could help you, but from all whom I’ve seen none really looked suspicious. Good luck with your duty though.”

She took a small step and stopped again as the guard didn’t move out of her way, widening her eyes at his continued staring.

“Oh- d-do you mean, _I_ might be one of the suspects?” she cried out, her voice sounding both surprised and worried. She wrapped both her arms tighter around Nori, who had chosen just that moment to wake up and make a small frightened whimper after noticing the guard.

The guard’s stance deflated a little at that, and he glanced down at Kori, as if he was just now realizing that she was a small Dam with a toddler in her arms.

“No. Forgive me for implying-“ he muttered and made a small bow before adding a ‘good day’, turning and marching down towards another row between the stalls. 

Kori took a moment to make sure he was truly gone before she turned her attention to Nori, cradling him in her arms and whispering soothingly.

“Oh, kit, don’t cry, he’s gone, there’s nothing bad happening I promise!”

She hoped it wouldn’t make him break out in tears, he only ever started crying while being held when he was _really_ upset about something. But as soon as she tilted her head to look down on Nori the hiccupping stopped and he looked back up at her with a smile and eyes completely dry. He started tugging at Kori’s neckline slightly and only stopped when she carefully pulled out the hairpiece again.

She handed it over and Nori curled his tiny fist around the pearls, examining the piece closely and with a fascinated glimmer in his eyes. Kori watched him for a while and then laughed.

“You haven’t been asleep at all, have you?”

“Mm-mmm” Nori shook his head but didn’t look the least bit guilty about pretending and tricking his mother, too focused on toying with the stolen thing. Kori quickly started walking on, trying to keep herself from laughing even more, and when she tried to take back the trinket in case they were seen, Nori just stuffed it down his shirt exactly the way she had done with her bodice before.

“No, no” Kori carefully pulled it back out and straightened Nori’s shirt despite the small cries of protest. “It’ll shift in your shirt and fall out without any pockets, it’s best if I keep it.”

“I want the next one!” Nori demanded with a huff and tugged at her clothes. “Ma, want pockets for the next one!”

“There won’t be a next one, kit” Kori replied with a sigh. “Listen, ma just did something one shouldn’t be doing. Please, promise not to tell, yes? Especially not daddy or Dori, ok? And don’t do anything like this either, all right?”

Nori pouted a little but eventually held out his pinkie without her having to ask again. Kori smiled fondly as he promised to keep the secret and watched Nori tugging at his collar with his brow furrowed in concentration.

He’d be excited about all the things Kori used to do before the responsibility of motherhood made it near impossible to go and steal things or mingle with the underworld of Erebor, he loved the few stories about her activities she told and nearly made Hrafn frown after all. And she had never had gotten the opportunity to do as any Dwarf parent hoped to do, and show any of her children her actual _craft_ , not just the work that was the loom.

“Listen Nori, my treasure, would you like to do something new today?” She asked slowly, and immediately the lad perked up at her words.

“Yes! What’re we gonna do?”

“Well-“ Kori leaned down a little to whisper for just Nori to hear. “There’s lots of neat places you can hide little things in, no matter what pockets you have. And ways to make other people never even notice that you have them. But that’d be out little secret, right?”

“Yes!” Nori whispered as loudly and forcefully as he could, nodding along and ready to be quiet as long as there was something interesting his mother might show him.

With a smile Kori turned back towards the streets leading to their house, wondering if she had still been too clumsy for quick fingers at his age or not. She might show him how to make a coin disappear perhaps, he’d love that.

“And tomorrow, dear, we can go and meet some old friends of mine, nearly family I’d say.”

“Like da’s friends from the guardhouse?!” Nori had always been half afraid and half in awe of the guard but he still always edged into the room when one was near, just to watch them going about their important law protection business.

“A bit” Kori nodded “but they don’t arrest anyone who’s done something wrong.”

Nori’s eyes shone at that and he bounced up and down enough for Kori to have to hold him with both arms.

“I like them!” he insisted with a solemn nod, and Kori smiled, brushing her hand over Nori’s messy braids. “You will, kit, you will.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> these are so saccharine, please tell me if it's too much. though, actual plot will be happening in the next chapters


	3. ropes

Any respectable Dwarrow would have argued that the Marmot’s Hollow was the last place one would want to see their child in, that it was surrounded by streets one wouldn’t even consider letting their young ones wander in, let alone the tavern itself. It was in the undercity after all, where the guards left the criminals of the city alone unless they absolutely had to find them on order of someone very high up.

And yet there wasn’t a nicer place Kori could think of to spend her evenings in, surrounded by thieves and grifters. She might not be active any longer, but she was one of them and all her dearest friends were patrons, ready to welcome her back to sit and drink with them.

The children of the thieves were few, with the lifestyle most lead not being suitable to find the time to bear one or someone who was willing to have a criminal’s child. The times one did have a child without turning to the legal side of life beforehand were rare, though everyone was fond of the children of the few who stayed.

When Kori returned after a long period of absence, with her child on her arm, the entire tavern had welcomed little Nori gladly and with loud cheering that nearly made him hide his face in his mother’s beard, if it all hadn’t been so curious. Nori warmed up to the many strangers quickly, much quicker than he had to Hrafn’s colleagues, and though Kori’s friends looked dangerous and had more weapons around, it seemed to be because they didn’t scare Nori at all.

The patrons would all gather around Kori when she brought her son, would take the opportunity to talk to her, or tell their no doubt embellished, stories to somebody who had never heard any of it before. They’d sit Nori on one of the tallest stools and tell him all about the jewels they’d stolen and the clever ways in which they had tricked the guards, delighted at the very flattering admiration of a child. 

Kori would smile into her ale while Nori listened to all of it open mouthed, and she decided not to correct all of the stories later on, only those that sounded like something Nori might attempt to try himself, and no matter how easy it sounded a child would never be able to repeat it, and even adults would need experience. It was better not to take chances and have Hrafn’s friends drag him home after a failed attempt to do as the other thieves, and if Hrafn found out what she was exposing his son too… better not take a chance.

They didn’t go very often, with Kori not always having the time to walk down to the Hollow, with all her work and chores. She didn’t want Hrafn to notice her going, with Nori no less, and Dori would certainly be unhappy about having his mother and little brother being around exactly the kind of people he’d usually scoff at.

Kori didn’t mind him thinking badly of anyone who wasn’t being proper, he was his father’s son after all, and Hrafn had always wished to raise his children to be good Dwarves, and honest ones. He had succeeded with Dori, and to some extend with Nori, but each time he was sure his father wasn’t looking the youngest would get up to all sorts of mischief. 

Sometimes, when Kori hadn’t taken him for weeks at a time, Nori would go and sulk in some corner, or sit on Hrafn’s lap and refuse to move or release his father’s beard from his hands until Hrafn was forced to carry him around awkwardly. Or he would go and climb into the shelves and cupboards, taking out everything and making a mess out of everyone’s things, always able to find one that hadn’t been locked.

While everyone else was either getting angry or trying to clean up, Nori would glare at Kori with his cheeks all puffed but not saying a word as he did promise to never tell Dori or Hrafn, and Nori kept his promises. 

Nori liked the Hollow more than any other place he might play at, even without having anyone his age around, the thieves of the little tavern were more than enough as playmates, and he soon was comfortable enough to leave his mother’s side and run around inside the building and between those who had nothing better to do. 

One of his favourite was Ruan, an old poacher who liked to talk and give advice when the day grew long and somebody paid him for some ales, and whose stories somehow had never been discredited, and not for the lack of trying. Each time Nori would tire from running around and exploring everything, Ruan would sit him down on the table next to him, and tell him stories.

The poacher was very fond of Nori, would always tell him about the things he had seen away from the mountains and in the forests, how to survive in the wild where no Dwarf would want to wander in and how to make tools out of things one could find there. Sometimes he’d also bring a piece of rope, demonstrating how to tie sturdy knots and make nooses for any occasion.

It’d keep Nori entertained for hours, as he struggled to tie clumsy lopsided knots but determined to have them look exactly like Ruan’s. Everyone would laugh at his attempts but still praise his progress and promise him that one-day his hands would be as nimble as any thief’s. 

Kori would smile at it, wondering how it would be if her son really chose to be a thief when he grew up. He showed interests in her looms but was too young to really decide on a craft yet, but perhaps he had inherited her talents the same way he had Hrafn’s looks. Hrafn wouldn’t be pleased about this though.

Nori already was stealing from the Hollow’s patrons when he could, nothing much, a forgotten poach of pipe weed there, a sheath of a knife he didn’t return here. Nothing anyone would miss, but each time somebody noticed they’d laugh or start going on about how Kori’s son lacked all honour as a joke. It was never something that’d cause a fight between thieves, nothing they couldn’t get somewhere else easily, but Kori still didn’t want Nori to get into the habit and then one day take things that would actually get him into trouble. One did not take from the own kind after all.

One day she had just called for Nori to bring him back home in time for dinner, so that neither Dori nor Hrafn would worry about them, only to see how he was trying to casually stuff some ropes into his inside pockets. 

“Nori!” she scolded and he ducked his head sheepishly. “We don’t steel from friends. Return these, they’re not yours, if you want ropes of your own I will buy you some.”

Ruan walked by, grinning down at Nori, who now looked really guiltily and held out the ropes.

“Nah~ I’ve got plenty and you’ve been makin progress with the nooses. Keep ‘em, little fox, and show me what you can do next time. Wouldn’t want your ma to purchase things honestly, would we?”

Kori sighed but Nori just beamed up at Ruan and dashed away, probably to hide somewhere close to the doors until she was ready to actually leave.

“Really, there’s no need-“

Ruan waved her off.

“Consider it a gift, Magpie. I like your lad, ‘s got talent and these bits of rope are good for nothing but practice.”

Kori smiled at that, grasping Ruan’s wrist as he did the same with his hands. They shook their hands briefly, her showing her gratitude that way, before Ruan released her and sauntering towards the counter for another drink with a little wave over his shoulder.

Kori went to get Nori, and they walked towards their home slowly, Nori distracted by trying to make a noose while walking, and Kori gently nudging him into the right direction when he was about to walk into something or someone.

“You know, you can’t show these to da, all right?” she asked, with a look at the knots already made into the piece. Hrafn might recognize some of them, might know that Kori herself wasn’t good enough to teach Nori that, and that there was no real reason for him to learn it anyway.

Nori nodded, not looking up from his work.

“Good. Now come along, kit, it’s getting late already.” 

“’m not a kit, ma!” he whined at that and looked up at her, pouting again.

“Oh?” Nori had never complained about her favourite nickname for him, but he was slowly reaching the age when he changed opinions on things and then expected everyone to know. “Why not?”

“Kits are babies” Nori explained as if it was obvious. “I’m not a baby! And Ruan said I’m a fox, with my braid and all. He said I’m just like the ones he’d seen the forest! And that everyone will call me that when I grow up. I _am_ grown up!”

Kori laughed at that, gently ruffling Nori’s hair. So Ruan had given Nori his first alias. He had meant the name most thieves would call Nori if her ever were to join them, just as Kori was called magpie. Nori wouldn’t understand the difference, and even if he did, he wouldn’t care now that he had set his mind on it.

“That you are, my fox. And remember-“

“Won’t tell da or Dori where I got the idea, promise!”

Kori was sure that she shouldn’t be happy about her son learning how to lie, and she was certain that she wasn’t supposed to be encouraging him, but somehow she only was pleased that Nori caught on so fast. She picked him up in her arms, and together they made their way back to their family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure if I already mentioned it, or whether it can be explained in the story... but Hrafn is from a larger family, has lots of cousins and siblings who are older than him so he doesn't need to carry on his family line. Kori is an only child and has no close relatives her age, so their children are named after her.


	4. memories

There weren’t many things from the early years of his childhood Nori could remember completely. He hardly forgot things, but the details slipped, not every day or minute stayed in his head for long after it passed. Impressions, little moments and skills he picked up somewhere, these were things he kept forever, but actually being able to recall something exactly the way it happened, with every detail on his mind so that he could relive the memory if needed… that wasn’t something Nori could do until later on in life.

He did remember the days after the Dragon came.

He remembered his mother holding him, rocking him in her arms as he cried from fear while clinging to her and Dori, he remembered the relieved tears when his father finally found them in the chaos of an entire Dwarven Kingdom fleeing and trying to search for their lost family and friends, he remembered being held by him, and smelling the vague comfort underneath the ash and stench of burned hair and flesh that clung to his father's clothes.

He remembered watching Hrafn trying to let his hair loose to check for damage and Kori sobbing as she helped him cut away all the scorched parts so that it barely reached his shoulders when she was done, and he remembered Hrafn unbraiding his beard and cutting of large chunks of it, one for each sibling, cousin or friend of his, who was confirmed dead. Kori just clung to her sons as she watched him; there wasn’t anyone but them she could have lost to the fire and the Dragon's destruction.

He remembered being carried by his mother, with Dori clinging to her skirts and one hand on her husband’s elbow, leading him the first few hours when he could barely see what was going on around him, staring at the grass and not able to speak much. Later he shook it off, readjusted his weapons and armour, and would walk away from his family once in a while, to see where his help was needed or if anyone of the guard had survived and what the King thought they should do.

He remembered seeing how, even days after being forced out of the mountain, people would try looking for others, when the Dwarves slowly started to form caravans and get a direction other than just ‘away from the Dragon’, or during camps. They’d try find somebody who could trade for supplies or who had heard of certain people.

Kori would look after her sons and watch out for her husband, not even trying to find anyone else. Dori would look around each time they came near other children, but then he’d just shake his head and tell Nori that they’d see everyone where they belonged once they could go home or found a new place to live. Everyone kept to their trade, and it would be easier to find somebody in a house than in a moving caravan.

There weren’t many Nori could have been searching for, but he found himself looking around anyway, craning his neck and wriggling in his mother’s arms or on his father’s shoulders, trying to see as many as he could. He wasn’t sure what he was looking for, had only ever seen his mother’s friends in a tavern by the firelight and wasn't certain he'd even recognize them in the sunlight.

He hoped they had gotten out, the thought of the Hollow’s patrons having burned up with their stories and their shiny stolen things made him cry harder than the thought of never going to see his home again. He tried to hide the tears, he wasn’t a baby to cry like that after all. But Dori did, too, and he once woke up to see his da sitting hunched over, face hidden in his hands and weeping quietly. If his father did it, then maybe it was just something Nori didn’t need to stop doing just because he was grown up.

Nori never did see anyone, he remembered how he gotten the sudden surge of hope once in a while, but he didn’t remember ever being right after more than one glance.

Only once did he remember meeting somebody he had looked for. 

The caravan was stretching as far as he could see in each direction, and he was always told to keep close to his parents. But Nori remembered wandering anyway, not too far, always checking where he was going so he could find his way back. When he saw a familiar braid of steel-grey hair he remembered feeling nothing for a few moments, remembered exactly how long it took him to recognize who it belonged to, and stumbling towards him with a wail.

“Ruan!” 

He remembered the tears starting to fall from his eyes as the old poacher turned and looked down in surprise, remembered throwing himself against him and arms wrapping around him and a voice soothingly talking to him.

“Little fox, you’re alive, you’re alive. Are you alone? Your, ma, ‘s she here?”

He remembered nodding and pointing to where he came from, explaining that his family was all right. He remembered looking at Ruan’s warm cloak, and his big traveling pack, with no cart in sight. He remembered considering whether he could just take Ruan’s hand and lead him back, ask his mother if they could travel together, or if he could think of an explanation for his father.

“Where’re you gonna go?” he sniffed and Ruan shrugged. 

“Dunno, fox, wherever my nose points me to. ‘ve got nobody to join, none that’d want me around or who I want to put up with. Rohan maybe, and further East.”

Nori hadn’t known much about where anything was at the time, but it didn’t take much to know that Ruan would wander far, and that it was not the direction everyone else as going.

“You’re not coming with us?”

“Na, lad, there’s nothing for me in a place where everyone is struggling so much already. I'm of no use there and there's nothing I can do. I’ll be wandering the wild for now, ‘s been a while-“

And despite being all grown up, Nori just couldn’t keep his tears at bay after that. He clung to Ruan’s legs and bawled his eyes out, somehow still managing to plead him to stay and just don’t go. Or at least he hoped the words actually came out in between the sobbing.

The poacher tried to calm him, but Nori wouldn’t stop. If his father could cry over the loss of friends, so could he.

“Stop, little fox, hush. Don’t waste your tears on the likes of me. I’m just an old scoundrel and you’re a clever young lad. You’d be surprised how quickly you’ll forget boring old me.”

Nori only shook his head violently and clung tighter.

“Never!”

He remembered Ruan sighing and patting the top of his head, before straightening and fumbling at his belt. Kori had only ever shown Nori how to make pockets on the insides of clothes, but he remembered how his tears stopped as he focused on figuring out how Ruan had made room in his belt to hide a thing.

He remembered Ruan smiling, just as he had always done just before showing Nori a new knot, and pulling out a rope out from where he had wrapped it up. It was a pretty rope, new and sturdy and so much longer than any of the scraps Nori had gotten to practice with before.

“Take that one. ‘ve got plenty, and can always get a new one, but for you it’s special” he explained with a grin as Nori examined it. “Practice, and remember me by it, I want to see how good you’ve gotten next time.”

“Next time? We’ll see each other again?”

“Course, I’m not gonna die, fox” Ruan had laughed at that, nudging Nori’s nose slightly. “You go back to your ma for now, and practice. We ne’er-do-wells can never keep from running into one another anyway.”

And Nori remembered the wink and the smile, remembered rubbing at his eyes to wipe away the tears and smiling so that Ruan wouldn’t think of him as a little snotty baby when he was gone, and waving till the poacher had disappeared between some carts and the other Dwarves. 

The last of the clear memories Nori had of the time after the dragon came were of carefully hiding the rope under his shirt, walking back and ignoring his mother’s questioning looks, lying down between their packs to pretend he was taking a nap, clinging to the rope so that nobody would see it, and dreaming about the day he’d truly be an adult and could wander the world on his own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> shift in tone anyone?  
> I just decided that I wanted a short chapter for Nori to think about Erebor, and also Ruan staying for a little longer


	5. pies

Settling down in the Blue Mountains wasn’t easy, as was getting there in the first place. They didn’t have it as bad as some others perhaps, both Kori and Hrafn could work, and Dori wasn’t so little as that he needed constant supervision, while Nori was small enough to be carried by any of the three older ones. Hrafn wasn’t injured, and apart from his braid now being considerably shorter he hadn’t suffered any damage from the dragon’s attack.

It was hard to wander, not knowing where they would end up, all the other Dwarves in their caravan not sure either. She did not like being so unsure about what the future would bring, or if there even would be an opportunity to provide for her family in any way she knew. She would not be able to steal or cheat within the caravan, and there wasn’t even anything to be had in the first place.

They passed through towns and villages of men, sometimes, and those who wanted to wander and try finding work any way possible, stayed. Kori used those opportunities to steal from someone she would not have to see all the time and who would not get to her, and the Men had enough things that none of the Dwarves did.

It was always little things, and stuff she could carry hidden from view and that would not rot. Sometimes it was oatcakes and nuts they could eat while walking and Hrafn only rarely noticed that there was no way she could have gotten it legally. Sometimes it was dried meat or coin or yarn and fabric in case she would have to fix any of her boys’ clothes. 

Hrafn did not approve of her stealing anymore, he had grown weary of it by the time their family had started to grow, and Kori understood that. He never said a word about it when they were on the road and roaming through Middle-Earth with the caravans, following their King to somewhere they could stay.

By the time they reached the Blue Mountains and everyone started working to ensure that every Dwarf had a suitable home in the old and near abandoned settlements, he started glaring at her if she brought obviously stolen things home. Kori took care to never have him suspect anything, but he knew her well and he was a good guardsman after all, it was easy for him to notice if something couldn’t possibly have been bought by her.

By the time they had a house and life in Ered Luin started to resemble one a normal Dwarf city should have, he started confronting her about it. They had arguments about every single thing Kori got from somewhere she was not supposed to, and he got angry and demanded she stop doing this, demanded that she stopped putting herself in danger and risking being locked away for good, leaving him and their children behind.

“I will not arrest you”, he hissed at her, quietly so that their sons would not hear “But I can’t help you if somebody else does, this is not how this works! And what if you are locked away and it’s decided that I knew all along and aided you? They might lock me away, too, or throw me out of the guard. I won’t be able to provide for Dori and Nori, and you know that I can’t be a sell-sword without leaving them behind.”

Kori knew that this was a possible risk, knew that both she and Hrafn would have trouble raising their children with one of them missing. Her craft as a weaver wouldn’t bring enough coin, she simply never had been good enough for a truly secure position. And Hrafn always was at risk with being a guard, and he worked too much to be home as long as he wished to.

“They won’t arrest you because of me”, she had reassured him. “I never steal anywhere near the areas you work in or when you might be home to see that I haven’t been to the market to buy anything.”

It didn’t calm him, and every time she brought home more things of which he knew that they didn’t have the coin for, he would argue again.

Dori never noticed them doing that, he was in school most of the time it happened, or was busy with one chore or another. Nori was quiet though, and sometimes even Kori didn’t notice that he was close when she and Hrafn argued.

“Da shouldn’t do that”, he muttered one evening as Kori cut pears for him.

She had stolen them, as good fruits were rare this time of year. There was enough food for nobody to _really_ grow hungry, but apart from the very basics most was hard to find on the markets, and then there was very little of it, with too many people looking to buy it, and those who sold could name a too high price. Kori did not like it, she was bad at predicting where things would be sold at a fair price, or not legally at least. She had not needed the pears, but they were sweet and juicy, and did not feel like chewing wet wood.

“’s not like you killed someone.”

He looked utterly miserable as he chewed on the pears and Kori ruffled his hair.

“Your da worries and he’s a guard at heart. Of course he got mad at me.”

Nori worried about it anyway, always watching his father in worry when Hrafn had gotten angry at Kori again, or when Nori had done something he probably shouldn’t have. Hrafn never got angry at Nori though, only sometimes reminding him that he wasn’t supposed to take his brother’s things, or steal bits of Hrafn’s weapon collection.

Kori grew more careful in hiding that she had stolen things, and Hrafn even seemed to grow less suspicious if he hadn’t caught her at anything for too long. He knew that he had married a Dwarrowdam who was a thief at heart, and that she wouldn’t see reason and stop completely even when there was no need.

Sometimes Kori was caught and chased by the guard, and sometimes she clashed with other thieves and thugs who did not know her and thought that the soft little Dam was no match for them. One those days she broke into her home so that none of her boys would notice, and she would carefully take care of her bruises and injuries, the broken skin on her knuckles and the damage on her knives. 

She never was caught without leaving equal or greater damage on anyone who dared lay hands on her, but she still was hurt more often than she would have liked.

There was no way to hide it from Hrafn, no way to lie about why she was bruised all over and he recognized that her injuries were not from accidents or from sparring.

He was angry about that, too, but he always held her when it happened and Kori knew that he would have done anything to protect her if she let him.

She also knew that Nori noticed, too, that he only grew more observant as he got older and that he watched with an unreadable expression when he knew that she was hiding injuries from a fight, no matter how well she did. 

Years passed and the life in Ered Luin was getting better. The markets had some consistency and it grew rare that food was sold at too high a price or was hard to get in the first place. Kori worked on a new loom when she stayed at home, or with weavers when they had work for her, but she still could not help going to the markets and searching for pretty things she could risk stealing without anyone knowing.

Nori and Dori were old enough to be left alone nearly all day, and Kori felt less worried when she did leave to cause trouble. Sometimes she would find some tavern and enjoy the company of others like her, as she used to in the Marmot’s Hollow.

Dori took up weapons training after school, and Hrafn grew tired of Nori stealing his knives and got him his own, small ones and good to learn with. He taught Nori how to take care of them and how to use them in a fight, and when he wasn’t there Kori would show Nori how to hide as many as possible on his body and how to fight dirty.

Their sons would often be alone at home, and Dori learned how to cook and get by on the markets, young as he was. He somehow ended up being better at that than Kori, finding all he had decided to buy quickly and even spending less coin than she would have for the same things. He was proud of that, and even more so when his parents decided that he could take over that chore and do it by himself.

Nori sometimes pouted about it, and about how Dori bossed him around too much anyway, and how he thought he was the ruler of the household. Kori and Hrafn laughed at that, and Nori only pouted some more. He didn’t particularly like helping Dori do work in the house, he hated being ordered around, especially by his brother. As often as he could, he would try not to be at home when Dori wanted him to do things, and would roam the streets instead.

One day Kori had been at work until late noon, and when she returned home she smelt delicious warm meat-pies from the kitchen. Nori was putting plates on the table, and Dori was cooking some vegetables, and there were four little pies sitting on the counter. 

“Nori got them” her eldest explained when Kori asked about them. Usually Dori announced what he would cook and then stick to that. “He was the one to go to the market today and they had meat-pies.”

Then Hrafn returned and Kori dropped the subject. They ate and all was like it usually was on such days, but Nori barely took a bite of his food at all, only staring at either his plate or at his father, his eyes wide and sitting completely still.

“Is everything all right?” Hrafn asked when he noticed, and turned to look at his son in worry.

“’m just not hungry”, Nori muttered and avoided his eyes. 

Kori looked from her nearly finished food to her son’s defensive position, before standing up and taking his plate.

“You’re probably just tired”, she said and took his hand. “Sleep for a while, you can finish your food in bed and later you’ll feel much better.

She led Nori away from the kitchen, knowing that Nori had been ill or just too tired to be considered well often enough that it wouldn’t be suspicious. 

Once they reached Nori’s room, Kori sat him down on his bed, and made herself comfortable at the edge.

“You stole these pies, didn’t you?” she asked, and Nori nodded, not looking as if he was afraid to be punished. Of course he wouldn’t, Kori would never punish her children for doing something she was doing herself.

“Nobody saw me.”

“Why would you do it?”

A shrug. “They smelled good and we didn’t have any in too long, they’d always been to expensive or didn’t look good. I just wanted some.”

Kori nodded at that explanation. It was similar to most of hers, when she bothered to analyse why she had taken something.

“Why do you feel guilty about it then?”

Nori flinched a little, but didn’t deny it. He looked miserable like that, curled up against the corner of his bed and leaning against the wall. Kori reached out and gently brushed her hand over his cheek.

“Nori…” she started. “You don’t have to be a thief just because I am one. You don’t need to steal or do things that make you unhappy, I don’t want you to take up my craft if that isn’t what you want. You can be a merchant or a guardsman, you can learn the law and be a judge and I would not mind even if you were the one to convict me. As long as you are happy I don’t care what it is you do, but don’t steal if you don’t want to.”

He looked up, tears gathering in his eyes and he blinked them away furiously before they could fall. Nori was old enough to hate seeming childish now, even if he still was a young boy with no stubble on his cheeks.

“I wanted them and I didn’t feel guilty for taking them either!”, he insisted. “I was happy to have them, and I wanted to share them with you. It’s just…”

He looked down again.

“I just hadn’t though that I’d feel so guilty once Da was here.”

He wiped at his eyes and Kori pretended not to see.

“I don’t want Da to hate me, or be mad at me, I don’t want to disappoint him!” Nori said, and his voice trembled as if he was about to cry.

Kori wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pulled him to her chest, until Nori stopped being so tense and hid his face against her neck.

“He won’t ever hate you”, she murmured into he son’s hair as he cradled him. “He doesn’t hate me, and he won’t ever hate his own child for stealing. He might worry and then he’d get angry because he doesn’t like the thought of any of us harmed. But he won’t hate you for being a thief, just like I would never hate you for being a fussy old lawman.”

Nori giggled at that and he didn’t sound like he was about to sob anymore. Kori brushed her fingers through his hair, undoing the braids he had only recently started to do himself.

“You know that what I do is against the law, and you know that your ‘adad is an honest man? Whatever you want to do, I will help you, but you must think about the consequences and if you’re willing to risk how everybody thinks of you.”

Nori pushed himself up, so that he was sitting with his side against hers, and looked at the plate of food with a contemplating expression.

“I think I like it. Not being law-abiding I mean”, he said, biting his lip. “I just won’t do it when Da can see.”

Kori laughed at that.

“Then learn how to be careful and not raise any suspicion”, she suggested and Nori shrugged and grabbed the pie of his plate.

“That was the plan anyway.”

He leaned against his mother’s side as he finished his food, while Kori brushed the tangles out of Nori’s hair and wondered how to teach a child how to be a thief like she had always been.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> next chapter there'll be 'teenage' shenanigans, the rating will go up and the second ship-tag will start to be relevant. unless I decide that it's really too gratuitous and nobody needs it... or if I get ideas that demand more chapters before that happens. ha...


	6. hay

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nori's growing up, Dwalin makes an appearance and there's gratuitous and awkward smut

The city of Ered Luin had never been so alive as it was at the dawn of war. Everyone was busier than they had in the previous months, even with the harvests from the settlements around the mountains coming in. Wherever you went, there was always someone talking about the latest rumours and the plans King Thrór had made, and where to sign up for the army, or when the troops of the other Dwarf clans would arrive to join forces. On every corner one could hear talk of the glory the Dwarves would regain, along with the oldest of their realms, and how Khazad-Dûm would be the home that had been lost to them when Erebor fell. Work was often cut short and many who had other crafts helped in the forges instead, to make weapons and armour, or anywhere the preparations for the campaign needed another pair of hands.

Nori didn’t have anything to offer for the helping Dwarves, and unlike many others his age he didn’t even go looking for loopholes to join as a soldier, or to find any warrior who was willing to train him or take him as a squire. He wasn’t that bad at fighting but he didn’t relish the thought of crawling through dusty old mines to confront Goblins and Orcs. It wasn’t his style.

Dori wasn’t old enough to join freely, and though Hrafn might have taken him due to their familial connection, he had no real need of helping hands and it was decided that none of Kori’s children would join in the war, staying with their mother instead. It did not mean that the family’s life wasn’t revolving around preparing Hrafn for what was to come anyway.

His armour and weapons had been ready weeks ago, and Kori kept reconsidering what he would need on the journey. The war wasn’t expected to last long, but one could never know how the conditions of the ancient mines and tunnel systems were after so many centuries of neglect and Mahal knew what creatures roaming inside.

Nori could not stand being there at that moment though. His Da was at home more, and that meant that he heard when the neighbours complained about his scamp of a son and things he had been blamed for; be it rightly or no. It wasn’t easy to come up with an excuse so often, and his Ma wasn’t always there to coordinate a lie with.

The solution Nori came up with was a simple one, and he would have eventually done that either way. With the spirit of optimism and the excitement for the battles to come, everyone was celebrating by visiting the nearest taverns, much to the pleasure of innkeepers, pickpockets, and Nori.

All his favourite places were filled, and mostly by those who never learned to be careful about their things. Most of the time Nori didn’t even have to steal, especially the younger soldiers to be of good houses felt generous enough to buy drinks for anyone who made them laugh or kept them company, people were more likely to place bets on the silliest things and didn’t grow as angry about lost wagers as before, and to Nori’s delight a coy smile and some toying with his braid got him a pint or two at times.

Which was actually the best part of it. Nori had always had a type when it came to flirting, but that type was barely ever paying attention to him. It was rare that any of the tall and broad-shouldered Dwarves with big muscles and a rough smile were actually willing to let him flirt at them. Often they seemed too dangerous to cross, and while Nori wasn’t exactly harmless himself he had learned early on that criminals did not always stick together.

Often their character matched how they looked in a way that was definitely not worth it, and Nori wanted _fun_ with any potential lover, not getting a black eye like he once had from an innocent looking girl who, had apparently recognized him from when he had cheated one of her friends at cards.

Usually the type Nori would go for were older than him, well past their adolescence and Nori did not relish the thought of having one of them near him when he was alone. They leered and always took it too far too soon when Nori was flirting, going for a tug at his braid, which might have been fine if Nori were older but he wasn’t as experienced and easy going as he liked to pretend.

With the preparations for the King’s campaign the taverns had filled though, and Nori had never seen so many young and friendly looking soldiers in one place. They seemed to be from good families for the most part, strong and well trained but young enough to still be a little clueless, they had nice smiles and flirted a lot, cheeky like so many Dwarves of Nori’s age were, but not persistent or weird when someone showed no interest.

Nori had watched them all for a while, sitting at a counter and drinking whatever he was brought for a few coins. The innkeepers all asked for less now, with the mass of people flocking in their taverns being more than enough to make up for the low prices, so Nori barely even had to steal in order to keep a reasonable amount of money and drink every day.

He wasn’t exactly sure what he was looking for, but somewhere around the talks about how there would be a war and the first noticeable changes in the overall mood, Nori had decided that he would use the opportunity to go and finally loose his virginity. It seemed like the best moment to do so, somehow.

Maybe it just was the mood every Dwarf was in, and the feeling of wanting to enjoy life in any way possible, which for Nori meant looking for someone to share more than just some awkward fumbling with. Maybe it was the soldiers, ready to march for victory and glory, and their cheer infecting anyone around. Maybe it was just that he had so many to _choose_ from to go ahead and try, soldiers and Dwarves he had never met before, and not just the friends and less than friendly acquaintances Nori had in the area, and those he could easily avoid if things didn’t go well.

There was no way of knowing how good his choice would be, or who of the strangers and young soldiers would actually be worth it, or worth taking that step with. If he didn’t like it, or if it went badly it wouldn’t be the end of the world, Nori supposed. He didn’t want it to be meaningful or special, really, if he didn’t like it he’d at least know what to avoid or how not to be nervous later on.

Now, sitting in one of his favourite taverns, Nori tried to decide on how to pick somebody to flirt with, and see whether it would go anywhere. He sipped at a large pitcher of mead, but made sure that he wouldn’t be drinking much more. He didn’t want to be wasted for this. 

The tavern was full of soldiers, most of them quite young and possibly untrained, and all their friends and the usual patrons, most of whom seemed to do just what Nori wanted to, and flirted shamelessly with the soldiers.

He took nearly an hour to observe everyone, making sure that he wasn’t right in the middle of some group, and that he didn’t draw the attention of too many people, while also trying not to look repellent, in case his potential pick noticed him before he made a move. 

Most Nori dismissed for one reason or another; not his type, too loud, clearly interested in somebody else or not at all, too drunk already or just because.

The one who eventually drew Nori’s eyes seemed perfect though. He was one of the soldiers, young and with fine clothes and a leather vest embroidered with the pattern of the army, so clearly he was good at it and hadn’t just joined a few weeks ago. Unlike most others he actually looked like he was strong and would only get broader, with thick muscles and not thin and still in the middle of a growth spurt. He had messy dark hair, shaved at the sides of his head and held together with silver clasps, to keep it from falling into his eyes, and from the grin he threw at the friends, he was with, he also seemed to be good humoured.

There weren’t _too_ many friends around him, so there wouldn’t be any loud teasing or lewd comments if Nori walked over, but he flirted a little and talked just enough to not seem like he didn’t like company at all. There was something about him that made it seem like he was much friendlier than his face would suggest, and he looked like he was younger too, probably barely 15 years older than Nori, 20 at the most. 

He was just right, not too intimidating, not looking as if he’d reject Nori right away and not as if he would be too bold. 

Taking one last big sip of his mead, Nori stood up and carefully made his way towards the soldier’s table. He made sure that he wasn’t too direct, stopping more than necessary when somebody crossed his way or blocked the path in between the tables, even if he could have slipped pass easily. He threw looks at the Dwarf, going slow until he caught his eye, and then he smiled and walked over to the bar.

Nori swaggered through the crowd with practiced ease, not getting caught up between those who already managed to get drunk this early in the day. He was as slow as possible, letting his hips swing as he walked, but not so much that it was painfully obvious that he was doing it for show.

He threw a look over his shoulder, at the soldier, and he must have caught on, because soon he was always looking when Nori glanced at him, barely even looking away guiltily or trying to hide the admiring gaze he gave Nori. Even some of his friends noticed and watched. It was flattering, and when Nori reached the bar he leaned against the counter and let his hand run over his braid before tugging it over his shoulder and turning to order another drink.

When he got his mead, Nori turned to watch the Dwarf again, taking a sip and letting his eyes wander over him, contemplating whether he had made the right choice. He wasn’t looking at him anymore, but now Nori had a better view on his face and statue. He still looked as hot as from his previews view, and there was something nearly _shy_ about how he was sitting. Perhaps he wasn’t as used to this? Even better, he would have less expectations or comparisons in case Nori made a fool out of himself later.

Nori smiled, confidently and teasingly he hoped, and made his way towards the soldier’s table, walking with purpose. It was noticeable, a contrast to how he had walked before, so the soldier and his friends noticed, watching Nori curiously and with some admiration. The dark-haired Dwarf looked sheepish for a second, and then glanced from Nori to the ones surrounding him, as if he wasn’t quite sure whether he was the one Nori was going for.

“I saw you looking,” Nori said, once he finally reached the table and came to halt right in front of the soldier, looking him up and down with a grin.

The Dwarf seemed surprised at being addressed but he raised his eyebrows and met Nori’s gaze directly.

“It didn’t seem like you minded.”

He had a nice voice, rough and not as loud as most others. His lips twitched into a smile and Nori cocked his head, letting his braid slide over his shoulder.

“What gave you that impression?”

He leaned against the table, half sitting on it, with one foot against the table’s leg and standing close enough to the Dwarf that they were nearly touching. It was hard to tell, with him sitting down, but the soldier looked quite tall even with Nori looking down at him. 

“Yer not looking that upset to me,” the Dwarf said with a shrug and closed his hands around the pint in front of him. It was nearly empty, but Nori hadn’t seen him drink much and his speech wasn’t slurred, so he couldn’t be too drunk yet.

Nori made a little ‘hmm’ as he looked at the Dwarf, as if he was only now assessing what he was seeing. 

“What’s your name then?”

“Dwalin,” the soldier said. He didn’t add any sort of title or family connections, and that was ok, Nori wouldn’t have done that in a random tavern either.

“Well Dwalin,” Nori drawled, “I might get a little upset if looking is _all_ you can do.”

That earned him a surprised look from Dwalin, and the attention from those who had only watched with mild interest and nothing else to do. There was some sniggering and whispers, but not enough for Nori to feel bothered by it, and he knew it was mostly directed at Dwalin and not at him.

Dwalin looked up at Nori, letting his eyes wander over him, taking in his posture and his smile. He seemed unsure, and Nori toyed with the end of his braid as he waited for a response, briefly wondering what he’d do to leave the situation gracefully if he was rejected.

“There’s no need for being upset,” Dwalin finally said and he leaned closer, his thigh pressing against Nori’s ankle. “I wouldn’t want to be the one to disappoint someone like you.”

Nori’s eyes narrowed as he smiled and leaned closer, his leg brushing against Dwalin now. He heard the others react in giggles and some whistling, and he did his best to ignore it.

He had known that they would have to touch, he wasn’t stupid, it was basically all he wanted to achieve with this. Somehow this made him nervous anyway. His fingers wrapped around Dwalin’s wrist, and the feel of warm skin against his, even so little of it, gave him an uneasy feeling in the stomach.

He acted as if he was experienced, as if he knew what he was doing, but he really didn’t. His confidence started leaving him as Nori came close enough to feel Dwalin’s breath against his skin, and had a pair of light blue eyes staring back at him. He’d make a fool of himself, and he _wanted_ it but this didn’t know _how_.

“Then let us go and prove it?” he suggested, whispering close to Dwalin’s ear. “Somewhere quiet perhaps?”

Anything to get to it and not stay for long enough for Dwalin or any of the others to realize that he was inexperienced and young enough to nearly be a _child_ to some. He wouldn’t be either by the evening, if all went, as he wanted it to.

Dwalin stared at him for a moment, mouth slightly open as he was processing what Nori had said. He probably wasn’t used to being at the receiving end of a flirt then. But then he stood, nearly quick enough for Nori to let out a laugh, and grabbed the smaller one’s shoulder.

“Aye,” his voice sounded rougher than before, and Nori tightened his hand around Dwalin’s wrist and pulled him away, after flashing a triumphant grin at all who had watched, even if he barely could see their faces anymore.

Nori led the way, and Dwalin followed obediently, not trying to pull his hand away or to ask where Nori was going. Trusting, that one.

Nori walked quickly, away from the tavern and into some alleys and streets that he knew had little people around. It was early afternoon, the light from outside was bright and the breeze inside the mountain was a fresh one, so perhaps most had things to do or spend the time outside of the gates. He made sure to keep up his swagger, to not have Dwalin notice how his heart was racing in anticipation and nervousness. 

He hoped he had made the right choice after all. Dwalin looked good and Nori did feel some desire when he let himself think of what was to come, felt a pleasant shiver run down his spine as he imagined those hands on his skin. He hoped he wouldn’t seem too needy, or to unsure with himself, just something right in the middle maybe. Nori didn’t want to make a too bad impression, but in the worst case he’d never have to see the other again. From the looks of him and the quality of his clothes Dwalin was either of a good family or a rich one, and either way he surely didn’t live in the parts of the mountains Nori did, and didn’t mix with the sort of scoundrels as he.

“What is your name?” Dwalin asked after a while, his thumb brushing against Nori’s knuckles.

Nori threw him a smile across the shoulder. 

“Why, do you need to know for what you want to do?”

“Yes!” Dwalin sounded indignant at that.

“It’s Nori,” Nori said with a shrug.

Dwalin was walking a little faster now, nearly pressed against Nori’s back.

“Nori? It suits you,” his voice rustled right behind Nori’s ear, and it was a silly thing to say but it still made him shiver. 

They finally reached the place Nori had picked before, a building in an area mainly filled with warehouses and storage rooms and was completely abandoned most of the time.

“Here, the perfect private corner for whatever it is you want to do right now,” he said, and carefully started to push at the locks. It was a barn, filled with nothing but hay and nobody saw fit to go and secure it against intruders properly, and just the right amount of pressure to certain spots would open it.

Dwalin pushed him against the door before Nori managed to open it, clutching at his shoulders and pressing his body against it before kissing him. His was warm and hard against Nori’s, and his kiss was demanding but surprisingly soft and Nori gasped in surprise. Dwalin tasted of ale and sweetness and Nori’s hands shot up to curl around his shirt as he tilted his head up for a better angle.

By the time Dwalin leaned back Nori was out of breath. It was a good kiss, and this was familiar territory, even if today he wanted to do more, and somehow it both made Nori feel less nervous and more jumpy at the same time.

“Don’t do that if you still want to reach the inside and have a little bit more privacy,” he suggested, praying that he wasn’t actually blushing despite how his cheeks burned.

Dwalin nodded and stepped back a little, to let Nori finish his work at the lock, and open the door. Inside it was dim and quiet, piles of hay filling the entire hall on various layers; some bound together, some in enclosures or on the second level of the barn, with thin ladders leading up to them.

Nori didn’t pick the latter, unsure whether he wanted to climb and rely on the thin wooden constructions, and not wanting to make himself any more nervous than he already was, with having to pay attention to the edge. Instead he walked further away from the door, and up a stack towards a spot where they’d be surrounded by the hay and hidden from view completely.

“I hope you like the smell of hay,” Nori called up to Dwalin with a laugh and let himself fall back into a pile, spreading his arms and sinking his hand into the straw. He was nearly giddy with nerves and anticipation by now, and hoped it wouldn’t show.

Dwalin hadn’t followed him down, but stood at the very top of the hay pile, looking down at Nori with what seemed to be doubt. Maybe he had reconsidered, or thought that Nori wasn’t what he wanted? He couldn’t have that now.

“Come here,” Nori commanded and waggled his fingers playfully. “One might get insulted by the hesitation.”

Dwalin’s eyes narrowed but he finally started to make his way down carefully, balancing his weight on the unsteady ground.

“Was just enjoying the view.”

He reached Nori and sunk to his knees, bracing his arms on either side of Nori’s face. It earned him a grin.

“You know how to flatter someone, is there any other thing your mouth is good for?”

Dwalin growled and leaned in to kiss Nori again, this time harder and with his teeth biting against Nori’s lips. It was good, familiar territory, and sloppy, and Nori let him have his way before reaching up to tug at Dwalin’s beard and pull him closer, getting a surprised moan from him. 

Nori’s own beard was too short to even think of beads, but long enough to convince most that he was older, while Dwalin’s might have held several braids but was unbound. It was nice though; good to tug at and run his fingers through the softness, and Dwalin let him do it with nothing more than soft grunts of complaint and bites.

Their kisses grew more heated and Nori’s chest pressed against Dwalin’s every time he managed to take a breath. Their bodies were touching nearly everywhere, with Dwalin’s weight pushing Nori deeper into the hay and his solid muscles feeling just perfect against Nori.

Dwalin’s hands ran all over Nori’s body, pressing his fingers against his lean stomach and against his sides, feeling all of it before they even got out of their clothes, repeating every touch that let Nori gasp.

This was good, he had done that before, though most of the time it had been more impulsive or drunker, and it was familiar. Nori had shared that much with others, and it felt good with Dwalin, better than with some others. His own hands explored what he could reach of Dwalin, over his broad back and shoulders and brushing over his arms, only letting go briefly when Dwalin stripped out of his vest.

Nori felt warmth in his stomach and more desire than worry, and he wanted more and sooner, wanted to not think of anything and get to the fucking before he could reconsider or come up with reasons why this might not be the best idea he had had. Dwalin’s hand brushed against his thighs and cupped Nori’s half hard cock, making him arch up into the touch and let out a soft whine.

“What are you waiting for?” he gasped when Dwalin didn’t move or do anything more than that. “You want to fuck me or no? We can do whatever but just do it _now_ -“. He’d only get doubts if this took too long, and he didn’t want Dwalin to think he had pretended to be more experienced than he was. And that he would tell anyone, at least.

Dwalin frowned a little, as if he was about to say something, but then he returned to touching Nori everywhere he could reach, petting at the bulge in Nori’s pants and grinding down into him.

The brief moment of interruption had nearly broken the mood though, and suddenly Nori found himself doubting his decision again. He shouldn’t rush so much, he shouldn’t lie or have to concentrate on lying. He wasn’t sure what would come, and he knew the uncertainty and the alcohol would make him slower at judging what reactions were expected, or how to make Dwalin do what he wanted without sounding pathetic.

Dwalin’s fingers worked on the laces of Nori’s pants, and that had happened before, but then this time it’d be more, and the pants would have to go. Nori’s heart was racing, both with anticipation and need to feel Dwalin’s skin against his and the doubt. He shouldn’t say anything, just let Dwalin do what he wanted, a disappointment wouldn’t be the end, and he could live with having Dwalin thinking that he was a bad lay. 

But…

By now Dwalin’s fingers had curled around Nori’s waistband, ready to tug it down, and Nori’s hands grabbed at his wrists, halting the movement.

“I…” he started, unsure what to say as Dwalin looked at him questioningly. He was definitely blushing now, and his voice lost all the boasting tone he had kept the entire time. “I haven’t done this before. I mean, I haven’t actually … haven’t _fucked_ , I did stuff, ‘m not entirely clueless.” He had heard about how it’d be like, had groped and made out and used his own fingers before, he knew some things. “Just not about fucking…”

Dwalin watched him, surprised but not saying anything so Nori went on.

“Do whatever feels best to you, I don’t care but don’t… can you be…” what, _gentle_? He wasn’t some blushing and untouched coward and ‘gentle’ had never been what he had or liked. “Don’t be too carless or whatever… I’m as not used to being fucked as any of those you had before or other stuff you can come up with…”

He let himself sink back into the hay, ignoring their prickling and painfully aware of how meek his voice sounded. Dwalin sat back a little, watching him and not making a move. Now all that did was to make Nori uncomfortable and regret that he had said anything. He should just have let Dwalin do his thing and trust that he wasn’t too rough on him.

“What,” he snapped, finally, glaring up at Dwalin, “Never fucked a virgin before? You’ll barely feel a difference, and you should feel honoured.”

“That’s not it!” Dwalin was blushing, and he looked younger like that, or more like his actual age perhaps. “I thought I’d make an idiot out of myself but this actually…” he glanced away, to the sides any anywhere but at Nori. “I haven’t… with anyone either. I thought I’d disappoint you and you’d laugh at me…”

Oh. 

Dwalin rubbed the back of his neck, making a little huff, and Nori stared up at him, trying to think of what to do. Why hadn’t he considered this, why had he assumed that Dwalin had experience?

“But you went along with everything?...”

“I couldn’t just back off right that! And that’s not… You looked… I wanted to… I wanted to have you…”, he gritted out and now all of Dwalin’s face was crimson and he looked deeply embarrassed by admitting this.

_Oh_

Flattering, that.

Nori couldn’t help but laugh, even if that earned him a scowl. He had been _so_ nervous before, and now all of that was gone, leaving only amusement and the pleasant feeling of Dwalin’s weight against his legs. Neither of them knew what they were doing, neither would know what to expect or how it was _supposed_ to feel and that was calming.

“Wouldn’t have thought that someone like you is still a virgin… How come?”

Dwalin shrugged, looking uncomfortable.

“’s like it is… I thought I should at least try… before going with the army, we wouldn’t have opportunity then, with the fighting… Didn’t want my first time to be there…”

He glanced down at Nori.

“Wouldn’t have thought you’d be one either.”

Nori wasn’t sure whether to take that as an insult, but Dwalin seemed too honest and straightforward for backhanded comments, unlike most Nori knew, who’d have made fun of him either way. And now his hands were roaming over Nori’s body again, much more gentle than before, like a caress and not a heated exploration, and somehow it made Nori shudder into the touch more than before.

“This is good, isn’t ?”, he muttered, hating how just Dwalin’s hand brushing against his neck made his breath hitch. “Neither of us has experience but we both want it and won’t go and make fun later? This is better than any other option?”

He wrapped his legs around Dwalin’s waist and pulled him closer, nearly unbalancing him.

“We can just go slow? If you still want to.”

Nori smiled, just a slight curl of lips but not one of his practised coy or confident ones anymore, and Dwalin’s eyes widened a little at that. He leaned down, pressing his body against Nori’s and nodded.

They kissed again, slower and with no rush to get to other things. Dwalin was good at that, holding Nori close and gently sucking or biting at his lips, focusing on everything that left the smaller Dwarf shudder with pleasure. It should have been uncomfortable, with the hay getting everywhere and Nori more or less trapped in Dwalin’s arms, but it felt good and reassuring rather than restricting, with no expectations on either side.

“We should get out of our clothes…”, Dwalin eventually suggested, looking nervous, and Nori briefly wondered just _how_ inexperienced he was. Or maybe it was just the effect he had on people? Either way, Nori kicked at his boots and pants to get them off quickly and started to undress. Dwalin was quicker than him, with his clothes having fewer laces to untie, and he carefully spread his shirt out before gently pushing Nori against it, so that he wouldn’t have to lie bare skinned on the hay.

They didn’t do much right afterwards, just watched each other. Dwalin’s thumbs were rubbing against Nori’s collarbone and over the freckles on his shoulders, tracing them with rough calloused fingers but impossibly gentle and warm against his skin, so Nori didn’t even think of complaining about it.

Nori’s own hands came up to rest against Dwalin’s sides and he looked down to take in the sight before him. Dwalin’s body was far from being as lanky as most of his age still were, with thick dark curls covering hard muscles, and some little scars here and there, from training and an eventful life in general.

He traced the lines of Dwalin’s body with his hands, bolder with his exploration and touching all he could reach easily, unlike Dwalin who was still focused on just his chest and shoulders and seemed to expect that Nori would push him away any minute.

It was so shy and tender, Nori nearly laughed again. For all the anxiety from before it seemed like Dwalin was the one who really worried or had no experience. Maybe he was always like this? Admiring the view before doing anything? Nori could get used to that, but now he wanted more than only some innocent touches.

“What is it you like?” he purred and arched up into Dwalin’s hands. “Do you like it slow, gentle or do you usually like it rough? How was anything you’ve done before?”

Dwalin took a moment to consider.

“Hurried and just to get each other off quickly,” he shrugged. “Don’t think I like that.”

He leaned down to bite Nori’s shoulder, hard, then eased off and kissed the spot, making Nori cry out slightly. That was good, surprising but _good_ , definitely something to file away for later.

Dwalin looked up briefly, then returned to biting at Nori’s shoulder and collarbone, alternating between kissing or licking at the reddened skin, biting harder when it made Nori moan or only gently brushing his lips against it to make him shudder.

Nori buried his fingers in Dwalin’s tangled hair, tugging and scratching his scalp, arching up against Dwalin’s mouth and moaning as Dwalin’s fingers kept digging into his tights, a firm pressure moving up from his knees and nearly ticklish at times.

He paused when his hands had nearly wandered up all of Nori’s legs, thumb brushing against his inner thigh.

“Do you have anything slick?”

Nori nodded and twisted to be able to reach his clothes where he had dropped them. As he fumbled through his pockets, Dwalin’s hand came up to massage his shoulder blades, distracting but a pleasant feeling nevertheless.

Soon enough Nori found what he was looking for, a little pouch filled with oil, which he had stolen from the pantry. Perhaps it wasn’t the best, but it was what he could get easiest, and at least he wasn’t completely unprepared that way. He tossed it at Dwalin and lay back down again, waiting.

Dwalin uncorked it to take a look at its contents, then curled his hands around it to warm it up a little.

“How do you want it?” he asked, watching Nori with some concern.

Nori thought about it. Perhaps it would be more comfortable to lie on his belly, or maybe straddle Dwalin and be completely in control? The first would mean that he wouldn’t see Dwalin at all, relying on him at least having _some_ idea of what he was supposed to do, and sitting up might be difficult on an unsteady pile of hay.

“Like this,” he shrugged and looked up at Dwalin, who now seemed to be a little worried.

“Is that comfortable?”

“We’ll know? I don’t care, just go on, I’ll tell if it’s not good.”

Dwalin nodded and let the oil run over his fingers, rubbing them together to get a feel for it, then reaching down to grope at Nori’s arse.

“Are you sure?” he asked again and Nori nodded impatiently, shifting to press against Dwalin’s hands and trying to make himself relax as much as he could already.

And finally Dwalin was getting on with it, and Nori could feel his finger push inside him, bigger and rougher than any of his own, but not _too_ much and it wasn’t bad at all, just so unfamiliar to not know what Dwalin would do next. His breath quickened a little and he closed his eyes, pushing down against Dwalin’s hand each time he felt like it was too slow or he could take more than Dwalin thought.

It felt better after a little while, and Nori threw his head back and enjoyed the feeling of Dwalin’s finger inside him and the other hand stroking over his side. Then he added a second finger, spreading them slightly, and Nori cried out at the feeling.

“All right?” Dwalin immediately froze, staring down at him wide-eyes.

Nori took a few shuddering breaths and nodded. It was strange to not be able to anticipate, to have Dwalin’s fingers work inside him, but it was _good_ , better than he had imagined.

“Go on,” he begged and pressed his legs against Dwalin’s sides.

And Dwalin did, torturously slow, pausing at any hitch of breath or squirm of Nori’s hips but at least he wasn’t stopping _completely_ , pushing his fingers inside, switching between carefully stretching and massaging and spreading the oil until everything was nice and slick.

It felt good and full, and Nori was soon completely relaxed against the straw, enjoying all of it. It was better than anything Nori had ever managed on his own, deeper and firmer and Dwalin was good at figuring out what was good and what wasn’t and what to avoid or do again and it wasn’t enough…

“Please?” he moaned after a twist of Dwalin’s fingers nearly made him jolt up. “More?”

Nori fumbled for the leather pouch that Dwalin had dropped near them, spilling the oil into his hands and reaching down to wrap his fingers around Dwalin’s half-hard cock.

Dwalin took a hissing breath, tensing as he tried to keep his balance while Nori stroked him, keeping the pressure light. He was good at this, as he knew from previous tumbles or from just taking care of his needs alone, and he didn’t want Dwalin to finish too soon.

“Please?” he asked again, when he was sure that Dwalin’s erection was sufficiently coated by the oil. “Fuck me?”

“Yes-“

When Dwalin pulled away his fingers, Nori whined at the loss, but then Dwalin’s cock was pressing against his entrance and Dwalin was leaning closer, pushing apart Nori’s thighs and trying to breathe calmly and steadily.

He pushed his way inside, slower than he had before, and even after the attention he had given Nori’s entrance, it still came with a feeling of discomfort.

It hurt only a little bit, not enough to think of stoping, it was just more than Nori had anticipated, especially with him having no control over how quick it was. Dwalin halted, groaning at the sensation, but then he leaned down and cradled Nori’s face in one hand. It helped and Nori focused on the warmth of it and on Dwalin’s thumb rubbing circles against his check, making it easier to forget the discomfort and try to relax.

“I’m good,” he muttered and Dwalin nodded, pushing deeper but slower, and once most of his cock was past the tight ring of muscles the pain vanished, too.

He could feel Dwalin’s strained breath as he tried to restrain himself from going any faster, could feel fingers digging into his hip, harder than Dwalin probably intended. After a few shallow thrusts he finally was fully sheathed, his weight pushing Nori down, trapping his erection between their bodies, and his head just a few inches above Nori’s.

Nori’s hands came up to tug at Dwalin’s beard, pulling him down for a kiss, slow and deep this time. He rocked his hips up, testing the feeling of Dwalin’s entire body twitching against his with every move, and feeling wonderfully stretched and filled, with no sudden pain even as he sped up at little and pushed up harder. With each move he could feel Dwalin moan against his lips, still trying to restrain himself so much it made his shoulders tremble.

“Yer… so tight…” Dwalin hissed out, but he didn’t look like he didn’t enjoy it, and Nori tilted his head to kiss the corner of his mouth, not able to reach much else with Dwalin’s arms pining him down.

“Go on now,” he said after pulling his head back a little.

“Yes,” Dwalin adjusted his arms, one still holding on to Nori, and the other braced against the hay. “Tell me if it’s bad?”

Nori wrapped his legs around Dwalin’s waist instead of a reply, and pulled Dwalin closer.

Finally Dwalin stopped with the caution, and thrust down against Nori, slow, but picking up pace and going harder with each time. It was sloppy, and awkward, both of them adjusting the angle of their hips and interrupting the pace, but then Dwalin managed to find just the right position and Nori arched up against him with a moan.

He was vaguely aware of Dwalin watching him, of him nearly stopping just to look at Nori’s face, but Nori’s eyes fluttered shut and it felt too strange, too good to really care.

“Please-“ he started again, but Dwalin already snapped his hips, causing Nori to cry out louder than he had wanted to.

Their movement grew less coordinated, with nearly every thrust of Dwalin’s hips sending darts of pleasure through all of Nori’s body, and soon enough he could barely do anything but cling to Dwalin and enjoy the sensation.

Dwalin leaned down again, his hand tangled in Nori’s hair and his lips kissing the side of his face he could reach, until he moved lower and bit against Nori’s neck, and Nori stretched to give him better access, gasping at the feeling of teeth against tender skin. It would probably leave bruises, or it might hurt later, but he didn’t care, it was good and he hadn’t even known _how_ good that could be.

Dwalin’s movements kept grinding him deeper into the hay; strands prickled against his skin even through the shirt they were lying on, and everything still felt good and warm and all of Dwalin’s body was pressed against him after every thrust. Nori could only hold on then, clenching his legs harder around Dwalin’s waist and on hand digging into the hard muscles of Dwalin’s back while the other curled around a handful of hair.

It was good, so good and not at all like he had expected, and it was rough and clumsy but each move and each touch made him shiver and moan, and it was so much more gentle and intimate than anything else he’d ever done and he could feel heat low in his belly and Dwalin’s breaths against him and his movements grow more erratic as he neared his completion.

Nori bit his lip trying to keep his moans at bay and he was aware of something being groaned against his neck but he barely heard the words anymore.

He worked his hand between their bodies, letting go if Dwalin’s back with some regret, but he needed touch for his release, and only a few strokes and the feeling of Dwalin’s body pressing against him everywhere was enough to have him spill into his hand. Only moments after he heard Dwalin’s gasp and felt his arms clench around him as he spent inside him with a few last moves of his hips, before collapsing half on top of Nori and half into the hay.

They took a few moments just lying there, catching their breath and recovering.

Dwalin rolled away a little, pulling out of him and Nori slowly stretched out his legs, panting softly. His thighs and belly felt sticky, and he’d have to clean that off before it got unpleasant, but for now he was too relaxed to want to make the effort.

He wasn’t sure what to think, really, wasn’t quite sure how to behave, so instead he tried to focus on what he felt.

It had been good, and new, of course, but it wasn’t the _best_ orgasm Nori remembered having in his life. He was sure that there had been better on some of the occasions when all he had was a drunken fumble with some friends, and he knew that he had done better alone in his room, with just his hands down his pants.

But the other times didn’t have him feel warm and relaxed from being held, and on other times he didn’t have the smell of somebody else all over himself, and flushed skin from where he had been kissed and where fingers had gripped him tight, and he never had an occasion where an arm wrapped around his waist and he was pulled against a comfortable body, with Dwalin leaning down and kissing him, tired and strangely chaste after what they had just done.

And they were _done_ , Nori hadn’t really planned to have it like that, had really only counted on getting fucked and then leaving, this hadn’t been about finding a lover, this was just about the sex.

But Dwalin’s arms were comfortable and his fingers rubbed circles against his skin and none of this had gone as planed, none of this was like Nori had thought it to be. He arched into the touch, letting Dwalin kiss him and curled his fingers into his chest hair to tug slightly.

The fucking wasn’t as good as Nori had hoped it to be, but it wasn’t as rough or painful as he had feared, it wasn’t as mind-blowing as he sometimes hoped it'd be, but _this_ made it the best Nori had ever had.

“Not bad for the first try,” he purred softly, feeling how he was getting sleepy and Dwalin’s hand cradling his head wasn’t making it better. He should get cleaned up and leave before he dozed off; he couldn’t stay here for too long.

Dwalin’s cheek rubbed against his, beard tickling but soft and not unwelcome. Nori kissed the side of Dwalin’s neck, tasting the salty skin and smiling as he felt the soldier squirm.

“I can’t stay for too long,” he said and Dwalin hummed affirmatively.

Dwalin let go of him briefly, fumbling with his clothes and then pulling out a handkerchief which he rubbed against Nori’s belly and thighs gently, cleaning him up and Nori arched up to give him better access.

“That was… that was good, yer good,” he said and Nori laughed at his awkward tone, but quickly leaned up for a kiss when Dwalin scowled at him.

“Can I see you again?” Dwalin asked, his cheeks flushing. “Not for a fuck, if you don’t want to, just… would you want to?”

Nori froze for a brief moment. That hadn’t been the plan either, all of this had been about how he wouldn’t need to see whoever he was with ever again, that he would have no trouble avoiding them. But Dwalin hadn’t done anything that would make him want to do that; in fact, he didn’t even want to leave at all. That had been a precaution, in case he didn't like the one who got with, or felt to embarrassed about it, and it hadn't been like that with Dwalin at all. With Dwalin it was clumsy and sweet, and he thought he would even want to spent time with him without it ending in a fuck.

“I’d like that,” he nodded. “Tomorrow morning? Same tavern as we met? It’s a bit emptier before noon.”

Dwalin smiled, nodding eagerly and Nori twisted out of his arms, to reach his own clothes and get dressed, before he got too cold.

He was quick to put on his clothes, even if it wasn’t comfortable with all the straws prickling against him and his feet sinking into the hay. Dwalin watched him as he did that, and somehow it made Nori blush to have someone watch him get dressed. When he was done, Dwalin helped him pluck the straws out of his hair and Nori did the same for him, before fixing his clothes and braid so that they weren’t such a mess, and pocketed the now empty leather pouch.

Dwalin had only put on his trousers and boots by then, muttering something about knowing how to find his way back. Nori stopped briefly, looking down at him, then leaned closer for a kiss.

“See you tomorrow,” he said, before scrabbling across the hay and out of the shack, leaving Dwalin to get dressed in his own time.

Nori hurried back home, hoping that he would get there before dinner, with enough time to wash the sweat and smell of sex of him to avoid questions, and he could feel the places where Dwalin had kissed and held him, would probably still feel that and some sourness in his muscles till the next day. This hadn't been as he planed at all, and Nori usually counted on his plans. This time, however, he could barely bring himself to mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I.... promise that this will have _some_ relevance later on, and I thought it'd be better to actually introduce Dwalin than to just go 'and Nori has a lover by the way' in future chapters. 
> 
> *hides* this was also the first proper smut I wrote (not the first I posted though) so I don't even know... awkward teenagers. they're both somewhere between 14 and 17 in human years, but I'm really really bad at judging how teenagers usually behave at what age, as I never really thought about what's usual and what's not.


	7. knives

Two weeks of nothing to do, two weeks of not really knowing how to behave when at home, because, joy, his father was at home nearly the entire time, but he also was there to see if Nori was up to something he wouldn’t approve of. And of course, he was about to leave for war, so Nori didn’t actually know what to do about that.

His mother and Dori were all over Hrafn, helping him with his armour and his supplies and anything he would need for the journey and just in general. They had it all sorted out and there wasn’t much for Nori to do to help. He’d just stand around, awkwardly, and be in the way or risk having Hrafn notice one thing or another that wasn’t supposed to be in Nori’s room.

Nori loved his father, of course he did, but he always felt such unease about him knowing of anything he was up to. Not that Nori felt _guilty_ for causing trouble or doing what he did. He couldn’t care less, really, but despite all, the idea of Hrafn looking down at him, and being disappointed in how his son had turned out, was something that seriously dampened Nori’s mood each time he thought of it.

It was good then, that he had an excuse to be out of the house all day, even if that excuse wasn’t necessarily something he’d like his family, most of all Dori and his father, to know about.

Dwalin wasn’t something he had meant to happen; Dwalin was something he had even had plans for to avoid. The main reason for choosing somebody he didn’t truly know, and somebody who’d be gone for the next few months was not ever having to see them again after all, in case things went wrong or got awkward.

But Dwalin was good, he wasn’t bad when it came to getting laid, and he even was pleasant company. Why should Nori stick to avoiding him if he hadn’t given him a reason to? 

They kept meeting at the barn he had first led them to, nobody else was walking about there, and it was the easiest place Nori could get into without first having to check whether it was all right. 

They didn’t do much in their two weeks, and usually Nori would have considered most of it a waste of time. He and his friends always went somewhere, walked around or if they were just sitting and being lazy, they would change locations ever so often. And not _only_ because they were chased away by people who didn’t want a band of never-do-wells lurking around.

Most of the time Dwalin would already be there, waiting awkwardly and smiling when he spotted Nori, in a way that was unexpected for such a big and gruff looking Dwarf as him. 

He’d bring food sometimes, dried sausages and bread, and then Nori started to visit their pantry before walking off to meet Dwalin. He’d bring fruit and leftovers, if those were easy to carry, and always some sweet mead he knew Dori wouldn’t remember for quite a while.

They’d sit in the hay, laughing and taking turns to drink from the clay jug. It was comfortable, really, Dwalin was different from the usual friends Nori made, and he liked it.

Though that somehow had been the purpose of the entire thing, they didn’t actually fuck every day. Neither felt like it always, though it had been nice and Nori thought that any other might have wanted to. He did, he liked how Dwalin was like, but even so they didn’t.

The first day they didn’t, Dwalin had been nervous, trying to explain that he liked Nori, that Nori was gorgeous and that he’d love to fuck him, but he’d had a tiring day, weapons training and such, and the way he said it didn’t even leave the tiniest trace of hurt pride in Nori. Why should it, Dwalin was honest after all.

And it was good like that, too. They fought in the hay, threw the largest bails they could lift at each other and explored where the hay was softest, in case they’d need it, or just lay around doing nothing but eat and drink. 

One time they tried doing it with Nori straddling Dwalin’s lap, which would leave him with more control on his part and seemed like worth a try. They hadn’t chosen a good spot for that though, and when Dwalin thrust up into Nori too forcefully both of them lost their balance and fell down from the pile that had made themselves comfortable on.

After the first shock of suddenly lying buried underneath hay and Dwalin’s weight, Nori could help but laugh hysterically, and it shook him so hard that Dwalin had to help him get up again. He looked disgruntled by it, but still laughed along with him. Nori was in tears by the time he was done laughing, but there was no way they could go on with their previous activities now, so they just plucked the hay out of each other’s hair and curled up in each other’s arms, definitely _not_ giggling like little children.

One time they were just about to undress, when the door opened, causing Nori to jump at Dwalin and quickly push him behind a larger pile where they wouldn’t be seen. A Dwarf threw some more hay bales on top of the ones nearest by the entrance and then simply left without ever noticing them. 

Apart from those occasions nothing went wrong though. On the contrary, Dwalin was the best Nori had ever had, once they got used to one another. He had little frame of reference, but no matter how expertly drunk fumbling was done, it could not compare to Dwalin, when he was keen on making everything feel good for Nori.

He liked to kiss, much more than Nori had thought would be usual for sex, but he didn’t mind it. There was nothing bad about having Dwalin’s arms wrap around him, strong enough to crush him and so close and warm and Dwalin’s beard tangling in his as he kissed him deeply. He was a good kisser, and Nori thought he could get used to just having these once in a while.

“I still can’t believe that a Dwarf as pretty as you even looked at me twice,” Dwalin told him once, his fingers tangled in Nori’s braid and the pleasant ache of where he had grabbed Nori’s hips and fucked into him still present.

Nori had just laughed, pleased about having someone call him pretty with such sincerity in their voice. 

It was good, and Nori was glad to have the time with Dwalin. He spent more time in the barn than he probably should, but it calmed him.

At home there was his father, and Dori, and he loved them dearly but it was… difficult. It was near to impossible to not have Hrafn know of things he wouldn’t approve of, and Nori _hated_ the thought of his father knowing what his son was up to the entire time. As a guardsman he would see Nori as a future criminal, someone who already got into more trouble than was advisable, who already had to avoid the guard when he was up to his usual things. As a father he would just see someone to be disappointed in.

Nori didn’t want to change what he did and how he lived, and how the rest of his life would probably go, but he also didn’t want his Da to know more than was really necessary. Hrafn would leave soon, and then it would be easier to be at home without expecting something to be noticed, but until then Nori just had to wait, and be with Dwalin instead.

They only had two weeks, and it felt like so much, and like nothing at all at once.

The last morning before the soldiers would leave Ered Luin was a silent one. Nori and Dwalin met earlier than usual, and Dwalin had held him, and kissed him deeply like Nori loved best, maybe harder than usual, but that too was good.

They didn’t do much more, Dwalin in his travel-uniform shouldn’t be getting undressed again, and Nori didn’t feel like anything anyway, even if this would be their last opportunity to.

They just sat together on a pile of hay, unsure about what to say. 

Dwalin talked a little about how everything would be for him, and with whom he would walk or where he would be when fighting, but Nori hadn’t understood that when his father talked about it, and he didn’t now either. 

He wrapped his arms around his knees as Dwalin talked, and fiddled with some straws absentmindedly. He knotted and twisted it, and eventually it had the likeness of some animal with four legs and a long tail, as detailed as it was possible with the limited materials he had at hand.

Nori turned it over in his hand, and as he noticed Dwalin watching, he offered it to him with a smile.

“It’ll break apart soon,” he told him but Dwalin still thanked him and put it in his pocket.

It was time to go soon, and Nori felt some regret about it. Dwalin had been good company and now he’d have to find something else to do for the time so many Dwarves and him were absent. 

He clung to Dwalin’s lapels and kissed him, smiling at how Dwalin’s hands felt like against his back.

“When you’re back…” he started, not quite sure what to say. His and Dwalin’s ways wouldn’t have really crossed under normal circumstances after all, and after the battles everything would return to that. “If you see me again, if you meet me anywhere, talk to me? I’d like to see you more.”

Theirs had always been a temporary arrangement, so Nori wasn’t sure whether they’d ever have a reason to return to it, but Dwalin nodded.

“I’d like to do that, too.”

They kissed one last time, and then Dwalin stood, offering Nori a hand to get up on the unsteady ground. They parted ways, and Nori returned to his home, just in time to see his Ma fixing the last of Hrafn’s uniform, and Dori who had the pack ready. He had seen them in the morning, but he had never seen his father in the armour.

“Nori! Where have you been?”

He was pulled into a hug by all three of them, and they stood like that, before Kori and Dori returned to checking everything for one last time. 

Hrafn was a little taller than Nori, and broader, his hair and beard of colour Nori was so proud of in himself but done up in braids Nori wouldn’t be able to do for a few years still. 

Now part of Nori wondered whether he would grow to look more like him still, and whether he even wanted to.

Hrafn’s hands were on his shoulders, and his father smiled, looking him over as if it was _him_ leaving.

“Be good to your Ma and to your brother,” Hrafn said, the old reminder he always had before leaving for more than a day. Just as he always asked Dori to take care of their Ma and protect Nori, as if he needed that. 

Nori smiled at him, wanted to say something clever, or maybe promise earnestly, but then his father stepped away, towards the back of the room where he kept most of his things.

When he returned he had belts in his hands, the beautifully worked leather that he had fixed and replaced over and over, and the only things about them that had never once changed, were the knives in the attached sheaths. Nori didn’t know where his father had gotten them from originally, but he had loved their edges and curves as a child, and how well they were crafted when he got old enough to appreciate such a thing.

“These are for you. You will need to train to get used to the new shape, but I know how good you are, this won’t be a problem.”

It took a few seconds for the words to register, and then Nori looked up form the knives, wide-eyed.

“Da!” he protested. “You can’t just give away your weapons like that!”

Hrafn laughed at that.

“I am not giving away my weapons just like that. I am gifting my knives to my son, who will have just as much use of them as I ever had.”

Hrafn leaned his head to the side, to where Dori was talking to Kori.

“Besides, I have given my old flail to your brother as well. It only seems right that both my sons have weapons.”

They always had good weapons in the house, for as long as Nori could remember. The flail and the knives were not some Hrafn used often, as there simply was no opportunity for things like that, but Nori knew that they were in perfect condition. And now they were _his_ , truly his and not just his father’s he had borrowed!

He wanted to thank him, but Hrafn smiled in understanding. He wrapped one hand around the back of Nori’s head and knocked their foreheads together gently.

“Take care,” he said, and when Nori wrapped his arms around his father’s chest he held him tight, only letting go when Nori pulled away slightly.

He took his pack and kissed his wife goodbye, and Nori clutched the knives, watching with Dori by his side as their Ma spoke some quiet words with him. She tied a purple ribbon into his braids, a token many used for their loved ones. Nori watched them, and clutched his knives and briefly wondered whether he should have given Dwalin something as well, and beside him Dori was saying something, but then Hrafn was out of the door and somebody said something about food they should cook.

Nori stared down at his new knives and tried to decide whether he should smile or just stare until he was ready to put the belts on. He glanced up to see his Ma smiling at him.

“The food won’t be ready for quite a while,” she told him, and Nori took it as an excuse to turn and bolt for his room, ignoring Dori yelling a suggestion of him actually helping with the cooking.

He looked his door, knowing full well that his Ma could break the look quicker than he could be out of the window, but she’d respect it now.

Nori flopped down on his bed, the knives in his hands, feeling a strange mixture of pride and sadness swell in his chest until he couldn’t help but laugh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have not abandoned this story, the writing inspiration for everything else was just much much stronger at all times /-\


	8. letters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> sadness and off-screen character death in this one

Nori hadn’t really expected anything of the campaign to reclaim Khazad-Dûm. No change he’d notice before the soldiers returned at least. The life in Ered Luin went on as before, only with his father not there and Dori working more, now that he was older, and only three plates on their table rather than four.

The streets were emptier during the days, and Nori hadn’t expected just how many Dwarves would go into battle. He noticed that, with how everyone had at least one relative or friend to name, who had gone as well.

Sometimes Dori would take Nori to the training grounds, and they’d spare or practice with their new weapons and only rarely anyone would be there to disturb them even though there usually always were people.

There were rumours about where exactly their army was at which moment, about whether they had reached their ancient halls yet or whether they hadn’t. Messages from them came with ravens, and those who received them would tell everyone in certain pubs throughout the city, but Nori never understood much of the tactics that were discussed.

Sometimes, when Nori was sent to the markets with an errand, he heard the merchants grumbling about things, and how many young Dwarves who had worked well were now off to war. Others complained about something the Men did, and their prices and trading agreements, and how they liked to make things difficult, just when the small farms deep in Ered Luin’s valleys had fewer workers.

The biggest change was when Kori returned home one day and announced that Dori and Nori would soon have a sibling.

Dori was excited, of course, he loved children and the family growing, and Nori didn’t know what to think about a little baby at all. He wasn’t really upset though, just unsure about what to feel.

“I should have known,” Kori told them with a laugh as Dori hugged her and asked about it.

“My mind was completely occupied with your Da’s war preparations. I didn’t notice any of the signs!”

The healer had told her that she was a few weeks along, nearly two months already, and that the child would be born in midwinter. There was even the chance that the campaign would be over by then, and that Hrafn would return in time to witness the birth, and see his youngest child.

Dori fetched ink and some slips of paper that were small enough for personal messages, and Kori set to write her husband immediately. 

“I will name my little one Ori,” she said, after writing down two lines and fiddling with the quill. She glanced at her sons and smiled, waiting for approval perhaps. Dori told her that it was a nice name, but Nori shrugged, not knowing any other suggestion anyway. 

“Dori, Nori and Ori, my sweet little gems. Has a ring to it.” 

When the message was written, Kori carefully folded the paper and sealed it. She then made a move as if to stand up, but instead she grabbed both her sons and tugged them down, quickly wrapping her arms around their shoulders so that they couldn’t escape and all their foreheads knocked together.

She laughed through Dori’s muffled protests and the face Nori pulled, but at last her sons wrapped their arms around her and they stayed like that, holding one another until Nori’s back started to ache from the uncomfortable position.

“I’m glad,” Kori told them and nuzzled her face against them affectionately. “I’m glad to have you.”

They all went together to see about borrowing a raven, Kori smiling all the way and Dori looking proud and happy about all of it. Nori didn’t say anything, just took his mother’s hand and imagined what it would be like to have a little sibling.

The following weeks were exciting, somehow. Before everything had been about Hrafn, and now everything was about Ori. Before it was something within the family, something so many others did as well, with Hrafn not being the only one who left for war. Bearing a child was different, and something more special though.

Everywhere Kori went Nori would see her with friends or neighbours or merchants or just strangers, and as her belly grew they congratulated her, told her how nice this was and how they hoped her husband would be back in time. Some offered advice about healers or herbs or those who sold necessities for the child around Ered Luin.

Having borne two children already Kori didn’t worry too much about it, but as anything they had had in Erebor was gone she needed to buy a lot now. Nori sometimes watched how Dori and her worked on making blankets and sets of clothes for the baby, and how they brought a crib home to put in Kori’s bedroom, and sometimes they asked him to help as well.

People were nicer to Kori, and she worked her loom and sold cloth, while Dori worked in the shop, and Nori saw how sometimes they would count their coins and put some aside, and sometimes they would frown when they talked about going to the markets. It was never much and usually Nori heard them saying that they’d be glad if the Men finally saw reason, and that the next harvest might be better or how next time this year they might be able to move to Khazad-Dûm.

Nori did his best with helping them, with trying to behave and not get into any trouble, if possible.

Winter was coming near, and then the messages from the Misty Mountains because worrying. The army is now truly in the caverns, they said. There are more fights than anyone could have anticipated, the campaign will last longer, perhaps more than a year or two. This will be a long and proper war.

Sometimes Nori would wander the streets and get close to the quarters leading down from the mountains and towards the forests and the West. They did not live close to the central caverns after all, and Nori would often see wagons and carts of merchants who went down to the villages of Men every other day.

They ranted about food prizes, ranted about the Men somehow knowing that the Dwarves couldn’t quite demand anything or insist on fair and honest trading. 

Combined with fewer hunters and farmers being there among the Dwarves it seemed to worry the merchants, but Nori couldn’t really say anything about that. 

Everything would be all right, he thought, even if the Men decided to cut off all trade, the Dwarves would manage. They had managed for years after Erebor fell after all.

Kori stayed at home more after a while, restlessly working her loom and saying that she might as well get things done if she couldn’t move about. It frustrated her but when Nori worried she laughed and said she was used to it.

Dori was the one who managed the household then, and Kori joked about how her oldest son was better at it than she could ever be. Nori tried to avoid the house when Dori was starting to mother him, but there was little to do.

Then came the day when Kori and Dori spent more time counting their coins, truly frowning now, and the markets often did not have much to offer, even if the prices were affordable. 

Trade was bad, and there were too few people in each family, to care for the Dwarves’ own supplies or to provide food by other means, and sometimes Nori was afraid about what would happen once his sibling was born.

Kori grew tired quicker, and Dori worked as much as a grown Dwarf now, and Nori could not find any way to help, no real work or anyone who needed an apprentice. There was no affordable craft he could pursue anyway, and he was a troublemaker after all. In these times everyone was too busy for him.

The brothers knew that their mother would need rest, would need time to take care of herself during the pregnancy that wasn’t getting any easier. They’d lack food for her and the new-born if things didn’t change, they might need medicine if the lack of food caused the child to be weak.

And even before the letter from the Misty Mountains came, Nori already knew that life would be an endless struggle for as long as the war went on.

There was snow outside the mountain nearly every day, and the plants froze over or withered. Not many Dwarves went out into the snow, but there was a path leading down to the villages of Men. All who went returned angry and upset, and Nori wondered why they even bothered talking the Tall Folk right now.

Kori barely left the house at all, but each time Dori returned from the market and spoke of how little there was, she got angry and wanted to get up and ‘show them’, but bearing as she was she could not.

When the letter came they were all at home, Dori preparing leftovers of their dinner for the next day, and Kori finishing off a scarf she had made for Nori.

Barely anyone got letters from the Misty Mountains, and Hrafn surely wouldn’t have sent a letter this long. Maybe a reply to a message about his third child being born, but not more.

They knew what it was, they did not want to open it and have it confirmed. Kori’s fingers didn’t shake as she clutched the dark paper in her hands, and as she carefully opened it to see the message.

She did not want to be in company after they all read it, and Nori felt hollow, somehow. A little angry with himself for feeling nothing at all. Dori left to the kitchen to take care of the food, and Kori locked the door to her room and Nori knew that she’d make sure he couldn’t pick it, if she truly wanted to be alone.

He sat at the table and stared at the crumbled paper, just staring, thinking. 

Hrafn had fallen in a battle it said. Caverns somewhere in the south of the Misty Mountains, that had seen a fight amongst their armies and Orcs and his father was among the dead. 

Somehow Nori hadn’t ever thought this could happen. There had been uneasiness when Hrafn left, but never had Nori imagined that he would just… be gone. Never to return. 

He didn’t know how long he was sitting there, but he felt thirsty. 

Nori walked towards the kitchen, slowly and listening for the sounds of their house. His mother’s bedroom was silent, and the door was still locked and dark.

His mother was never silent at home when she wasn’t sleeping or doing something she needed to focus on. She was always humming or working her loom or moving about, but now there was no light in her room, and no sound coming from it. 

In the kitchen Nori found his brother, sitting at the table and both hands covering his mouth. Tears ran down over Dori’s pretty face, and sobs shook his shoulders. Nori stopped in his tracks when he saw his brother cry, glancing at him uneasily. 

When Dori noticed him, he feebly wiped at his cheeks and then reached out with one hand, placing it on the table between them.

“It’s all right,” he said, smiling though his voice shook. “We still have each other and I’m here for you, if you want to talk or don’t want to be alone.”

Even in his pain Dori’s first thought was to comfort his little brother, to be selfless and make sure he was fine, and Nori felt anger and shame at the realization.

He didn’t feel anything, he didn’t try to comfort their mother and he wouldn’t have gone to hold Dori as he cried. His hands clenched at his sides and he shook his head, turning and walking away even without getting himself the water he had come for in the first place.

Nori nearly ran into his room and bolted the door, then went to the box under his bed and pulled out his knife-belt. He didn’t put it on, only clutched it in his hand before climbing out of the window and onto the roof, where he curled down hidden between the chimneys. 

It was warm and private and there was enough space to lie comfortably and stretched out, but now Nori curled into a ball.

His hands clenched around the knife hilts, holding them close, and his fingers soon started to cramp and tremble, but Nori didn’t let go. He didn’t know how long he was lying there, or when he started weeping or when his hands started to hurt from how tight he was holding the knives.

Nori wanted to make a noise, wanted to kick the chimneys and curse and not be such a terrible Dwarf, but he couldn’t even make himself get up.

He wanted his father to not be dead in some dark and abandoned cavern, he wanted their sibling to be born and healthy, and his mother to sing and dance and do what she loved and not just weave all day, and Dori to work and be fussy and never worrying about the family and just do what he wanted as well.

It was night when Nori stopped crying, and he was freezing and stiff and aching from how he was lying. He nearly felt too weak to climb back into the house, and his head throbbed in pain, but he managed. He didn’t even realize that he was heading to the kitchen, or that he was still holding the belt until suddenly his mother’s hands were there, holding him and cradling his face, and Dori’s arms wrapped him into a hug.

They stayed like that all night, the little family they had left, and Nori promised himself to be good, to not make this worse for them. His father would never return now, so Nori could not let himself be sad and useless, could not let himself hope that things would get easier after a while.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter originally was much longer but I split it in two ;-; the next one won't be nice either, but then it will be getting better, promise  
> do tell me if I need to add tags and warnings!


	9. hares

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> in this chapter three characters gang up to beat up another briefly. I think it's not too detailed in the violence, but be warned

Ori was born during mid-winter, with his father’s nose and dark hair, and his mother’s round face, and the family welcomed him gladly, happy for the child and refusing to worry about how they’d provide for him.

Dori worked as much as he could, and Nori sometimes still managed to find something to do as well. But he was too young, had a track record of being a troublemaker or there just wasn’t anything to be had though. 

Kori was always quiet now, mourning the loss of her lover, but still going on with anything she needed to, caring for her baby and working the loom when she could.

There was so little food all the time, and often there wasn’t enough of what they’d need to be healthy and strong on the long run. Everyone struggled. In many families everyone needed to work all the time, just to get things done, to not let the guild halls remain empty and the forges run cold, and many had no spare time to work just to create a food supply. There were many with ragged beards and mourning braids as well, many who had already lost loved ones in the war.

Nori watched how the merchants sighed and ranted and apologized, watched how the prizes went up every once in a while. He knew that Dori’s work would not provide for them if this went on like that. Kori couldn’t do much with the child on her arm, and she couldn’t work if materials were too costly or if nobody wanted to buy anything. Most Dwarves had bigger problems than buying cloth after all.

It was frustrating, to not be able to help. At first Nori just tried to help in the household, but it was tedious and there wasn’t much he even needed to do, and the baby was too young for him to care for without their mother as well.

Sometimes Nori would go to the markets and watch from the corners and be silent. He could have stolen gold, if they needed, or directly taken from the stalls. But there was so little now, and stealing from the merchants or other families would just put them in trouble. Nori couldn’t steal if there wasn’t enough to take from after all.

He watched Dori count every single coin now, and worry all day, watched Kori cradle her child with sad eyes and pushing herself to do anything at all through her grief. He watched Ori smile and laugh when he was picked up, but cry when he was hungry or when it was too cold and there hadn’t been spare money for firewood.

Nori watched this, and he wondered whether getting into trouble was worth the help he could provide. 

Outside it was winter, but even in winter one could gather what was needed. There just were so few going outside in the cold, and so few who even could spare the time. So few who were _allowed_ to go and look for what they wanted on this side of the mountains. 

The Men wouldn’t like anyone going in their lands too much, but these lands were closer than the few valleys in the Blue Mountains and nobody truly went into the forests anyway. It was the Men who made things harder with their stubbornness and greed in trade after all, why should Nori care about what they thought of Dwarves in their areas?

One early morning Nori put on his warmest clothes and boots, took hunting knives and ropes and all the tools he would need and an empty bag. He wrapped his father’s belt around his hips, hiding the weapons as well as he could underneath his coat, and then went out of the mountains.

The world outside was beautiful and white and nearly too bright for Nori’s liking. He was careful where he went, choosing paths down towards the forest that wouldn’t bring him too close to the Dwarf road. The merchants there might see him and suspect that he wasn’t doing strictly legal things, or worry for what a young boy was doing out on his own. 

Nori barely remembered all he knew about hunting and foraging, but it came back to him in the quiet of the forest. He found nuts and roots through the day, and most of them were even edible. He didn’t have the right tools to kill something big like a deer or a boar, should he find them, and he couldn’t sneak them back into the mountain either.

Instead Nori carefully looked for signs of rabbits and other rodents, judging where he might make traps. Perhaps one single hare wouldn’t do him that much good, but he might get _some_ coins for it, or at least ensure that Dori wouldn’t have to buy them meat for a little while.

The forest was nice, Nori found, and he liked walking in the cold and carefully making sure that he wasn’t making noise. It calmed him and eased some of the sadness that was everywhere inside the mountain. 

This had been a good idea, he decided, even if he found little food. It was good that he didn’t feel as bad as before, and that he wouldn’t be causing trouble within the city like that.

He stayed in the forest for hours, and in the end he had gathered enough nuts that he could eat as a light snack. Nori even found three hares in all the traps he had set, and he quickly killed them and gathered them up to carry home.

He hadn’t expected anyone to see him, wasn’t sure where to run to or to hide, or whether it was best to climb up a tree when he first heard the sound of loud steps in the snow. It startled Nori, and anyone who didn’t bother being quiet was either stupid or had nothing to fear here.

Before Nori could bolt away from the sound, there was another noise, a call and steps and then hands grabbing him before Nori could run.

“Found a furball!” a voice called, and hands too big to be a Dwarf’s shook Nori by the shoulders.

He tried to fight off, but the Man was behind him, pulling him off his feet by his coat and scarf, enough to not give him the opportunity to regain his balance. 

“And looks like he’s a thief as well! See what he has there!” another joined in.

Nori was turned and twisted around by the one who was holding him by his scarf, and he knew that they must have seen the hares in his hands. The second Man, who had noticed them approached, and before Nori could make out his face against the too bright sky he felt a fist collide with his cheek, and with a strangled scream he was thrown to the ground, dropping the hares into the snow and hearing the ripping of wool.

The pain was nearly worse than anything he had ever gotten in all the other fights, and Nori tried to roll away and get to his feet, but a boot collided with his side even as he fell, and he was thrown into the snow.

Panting he glanced up, tried to get away or to his feet or count how many Men there were.

Two he knew already, those who had laid hands on him, and there was a third one with a bow joining them as Nori looked. He prayed there wouldn’t be any more, but the sight of the bow made his stomach churn in fear. He could not outrun arrows.

“Told you, Dwarves are greedy little beasts,” one said, the one who had hit Nori in the face. 

“Stealing our things isn’t he?” 

The Man kicked up some snow, letting bits of ice and snow rain over Nori and the hares.

“They’re not yours!” Nori tried, cowering away and eyes flicking between the two closest to him and the one with the bow. 

Another kick followed at the words, and Nori screamed at the sharp pain that shot through his ribs. He covered his face with his arms as another hit his back and as he was picked up and thrown against a tree.

They were laughing, and the bowman pointed his arrows at any direction Nori tried to make a move to, not that he could even take a step, with the blows and kicks hitting him everywhere the Men could reach.

“Thief,” they called him “Dirty little Dwarf, trying to take what isn’t yours.”

They weren’t angry with him, Nori realized through the pain and the desperate attempts to just not be hurt too badly. They hit and shoved him and it was more as if they were _playing_ with him.

_The bowman is a coward_ , he thought, nobody who waves about his bow like that is truly good, and he wasn’t joining in really, only laughing and insulting Nori when the other two were too busy beating and kicking.

Nori ached all over by the time they were done, trembling and wheezing through the pain in his ribs and barely able to stand through the throbbing in his hip and knee.

The one who had found him grabbed him by the braid and pulled him to his feet, tugging and leaning close to look at his face.

“That one’s tiny compared to the ones I’ve seen,” he told the other ones.

“A child?” the bowman suggested and laughed. “They’re born furry like dogs aren’t they?”

“Maybe this one’s too sick for his bunch, so they kicked him out to fend on his own?” the second one said. “We’d do them a favour here.”

The first watched Nori until Nori cracked open the eyelid, which was already starting to throb and swell, and glanced up to meet the gaze. Then the Man grinned and pulled at his hair harder, making Nori hiss in pain.

“Maybe that’s one of their women. If they’re all so ugly it’s no wonder that all the Dwarves are running away from home and would rather die away from this. Tell me, Dwarf, is your husband still at home or did he find an excuse to leave?”

The thought of his mother crossed Nori’s mind, and of how his father was gone. How _he_ might die here as well. He coughed, and blood dribbled from his split lip and down on the snow and the Man’s boots.

“Oh you little-” for the first time the Man looked angry, and Nori saw him raising his hand and curling it into a fist.

He shoved Nori a few inches back for that, for a better angle and it was all Nori needed. He acted nearly on instinct, sticking his hand underneath his coat and pulling out one of the knives that rested against the small of his back.

He cut with it, as quick as he could, putting all his remaining strength behind it, cutting blindly and grimly hoping to harm the Man as much as he possibly could if he couldn’t get away after all.

The knife hit something hard, connecting with the Man’s arms and Nori was dropped, the piercing scream of pain and shock ringing in his ears.

His legs were nearly too weak to keep him standing upright, but Nori forced himself to spin around and jump at the second Man, slashing out and giving him a shallow cut over the chest, then kicking him as hard as he could.

_‘Get away!’_ , he thought and ran, ignoring the bowman who was too surprised at their prey fighting back, scrambled through the snow and grabbed the hares and ran.

Nori heard the strum of the bow, but he was too far gone between the trees and the arrow hit some branch. 

He ran and he didn’t stop until his stomach cramped and he could not breathe calmly. Nori’s lungs and muscles burned in pain and he could not let himself stop, even if running had never been this hard, even when the snow and the trees made it hard to sidestep and not fall and not drop his loot and he wondered how he had not broken down yet.

Finally his boots hit rock underneath the snow, and there was no sound to be heard apart from Nori’s own ragged breathing. He wanted to drop down and rest, and lick his wounds, but he still was too afraid that the Men might catch up eventually. 

Nori glanced down towards where the trees were short at the edges of the forest. He didn’t _think_ that they were coming, but they had caught him off guard already, so he couldn’t be certain.

First Nori put the hares into his bag, slinging it over his shoulder and hiding it under his coat, then he briefly let himself fall down on his knees. The entire side of his face throbbed, and there’d be bruises everywhere soon. Nori didn’t even want to think about why his rips burned as they did.

He gathered up some snow in his hand and carefully tried to clean his face. There was some blood on his lips and cheek, he wasn’t sure from where. It hurt worse than before, the cold sending spikes of pain through his entire head, but Nori didn’t want to return to the mountain bleeding and looking as wretched as he did now. 

It was nearly impossible to get up afterwards, but Nori willed his legs to co-operate and finally he managed, chocking back all sounds of distress he wanted to let out.

He made his way slowly, keeping to the rock and away from the snow to leave as little tracks as possible. Now that the first wave of his fear was gone Nori could feel his body throbbing, and it hurt to take the steps over the steep terrain. He moved slowly, ready to run should he need to, hoping that nobody would actually follow him up into the Dwarvish realm.

Nobody saw him as he slipped past the main gates into the mountains, he was small and alone and the guards didn’t look for Dwarves passing by at this time of day. He took the long way through the streets, keeping to the shadows and less populated areas. He wanted to be home, but he could not cause trouble, he needed to help…

At home it was warm and there were voices coming from the kitchen, his Ma’s and somebody else’s, and little Ori was babbling happily.

Nori moved silently, keeping his steps completely soundless even though his knee throbbed each time he put weight on his right foot. He edged closer to the kitchen door, keeping out of the light, and glanced inside. 

Kori was sitting at the table, Ori on her knees, and one of her friends, Jora, was on the chair across from her. There was a freshly brewed pot of tea between them and both women looked sad and frowned at nothing. 

Nori didn’t mean to interrupt them, even though he needed his mother right now, but before he could decide to stumble away, Jora looked up, eyes widening, and Kori followed her gaze.

“Nori!” she cried, seeing the damage on her son’s face even in the half-light of the corridor. She rose from her chair, staring at him in worry, the glanced down at Ori and at her friend.

Jora took the boy, gently rocking him and watching as Kori pulled Nori into the kitchen, staring at the bruises on his face and his lip that had started to bleed again. His clothes were still wet from the snow, and his scarf was torn from where he had been grabbed.

Nori tried to turn away from the light and away from her gaze, but his mother’s hands were soft on his shoulders. She watched him, then turned towards Jora.

“Please tell the healer on gemcutter way that I might need her services today,” she told her, and Jora nodded in understanding. She carefully put Ori in his little chair, then left silently with one last worried look at Nori.

“What happened?” Kori whispered and Nori wordlessly showed her the bag with the hares.

“Food for the next few days, or gold,” he answered and his mother let out a soft sigh.

“My little kit. My silly little kit, why.”

She cradled him in her arms, hugging him close but letting go before Nori could return the hug. 

“Come now,” she said and pulled him towards the chair closest to the fire. “Let me see what happened to you.”

With Kori’s help it was easier to get rid of the layers of clothes, even when nearly every movement hurt.

“I don’t want a healer,” Nori told her as Kori helped him take off his tunic, “it’s too much, please don’t waste coin!”

“It is no waste!” he was told. “It is never a waste to heal, do you understand? And don’t worry about this now.”

Kori fetched a bowl for warm water and bandages, and then Nori just shivered and did his best not to cry from the pain as his mother gently tended to his wounds. 

The worst was in his face, a cut on his cheek and a split lip, as well as the swelling and some crusted blood on his nose. Everything else was just bruises and burning ribs, though Kori told him that no rib was broken or cracked. 

She made Nori tell about what happened, and he did, explaining how he had been so careful in the forest, how he had caught the hares and how the Men had found him and beaten him.

Once Kori was done checking him over she sat silently, her face twisted in pain as she stared at the bruises on Nori’s body.

Finally she took Nori’s hands, rubbing his knuckles gently and putting them against his ribs.

“Like this,” she said “feel everything, this is how you can tell whether you have any broken ribs. You can also tell by feeling, but usually only if you _know_ how a broken rib feels like. With any luck you’ll never do.”

Nori listened as his mother gently dragged his hands over the places that hurt, explaining how he could tell that even the worst pain wasn’t in serious need of treatment. 

“You will need to learn how to take a beating,” Kori said eventually, closing her eyes and pressing her lips together. “And how to make sure that the healers who don’t ask questions know you, or how to make sure you can pay when you need help from anyone. I want you to be safe if you do these things. I don’t want you to lean from experience or when it’s already too late.”

Nori nodded, looking at the table and rubbing over his thigh absentmindedly. Ori was watching, sucking at his favourite blanket and not knowing what was going on yet. Kori sighed again, and stood up to cradle Nori against her.

Nori melted into the touch, letting his mother comfort him and gently comb out his tangled braid.

“My kit,” she sighed, “please be careful. Don’t feel like you need to help the family like this. I know it’s not nice, now… But don’t push yourself to do these things.”

“I wanted to! I know it’s… _safer_ to just steal, but there isn’t anything to be stolen! Nobody wants these hares anyway! I _wanted_ to find them, I _want_ to help like this.”

He expected her to scold him for that, but Kori just smiled.

“Then I will make sure that you _know_ how to help outside of the law.”

She kissed the top of Nori’s head.

“You’re a good boy, my gem, I am sorry that things are as they are now.”

She stepped away, gathering all her bandages and anything she hadn’t needed.

“I’ll get you clean clothes,” Kori said, “and we’ll tell Dori some lie so he won’t worry too much. Might be that he’ll find out anyway, he’s suspicious and clever, my pearl.”

Nori watched his mother go, then glanced at Ori who just gave him a toothless smile. He managed to smile back, despite his split lip.

He eyed the tea pot for a moment, but he felt like he didn’t want to make the effort of getting himself a cup and having some of it. Exhaustion caught up with Nori, and he leaned folded his arms on the table and leaned his head against it.

He wished somebody would be there to help him. Not even with not getting beat up again and fearing for his life, but just someone who could hold him and make him feel safe. Safe from things like today, safe from having to worry about his mother and little brother. Safe from worrying about everyone he cared about looking down on him for stealing, for enjoying what he did and not caring for consequences, really.

Kori was good in that, but she was a thief as well, even if she barely did anything these days. She’d never judge him for anything.

He wanted Dori to be there, gentle Dori who never once abused his strength for anything, who could protect his family and hold his brothers and break anything that could hurt them. Proper Dori who refused to even think about what their mother did sometimes, who scoffed and frowned at the thought of criminals and who’d never forgive or accept one.

He thought about his father, who’d have held him and then explained all the ways of how to protect himself, of how to fight against taller opponents, and more than one. Hrafn, the guardsman who only ever looked the other way because of Kori because she was his lover, his wife. Hrafn whose disappointed and hurt eyes Nori never ever wanted to face. His Da who never was supposed to know about how his son was like, and who’d never find out now either way.

Unbidden Nori’s thoughts turned to Dwalin. Dwalin was neither his brother, nor any sort of family. Him being dishonourable was nothing to Dwalin, it wouldn’t affect his own family’s honour after all.

Dwalin with his barely restrained strength, his warrior’s build and his tight hold that never was uncomfortable. He was easy to talk to and easy to laugh along with, understanding and barely showing any sign of displeasure when told about things most others would scold Nori for.

Somehow Nori wished that he was there. A Dwarf of his age, strong enough to stand by Nori’s side, should he ever need it, strong enough to make Nori feel at ease and not as if he was judged.

He pushed the thought away nearly as soon as he got it. A couple of weeks of fun in the summer meant nothing. And Dwalin was off to the same war his father had fallen in, who said that he’d return anyway?

Soon Kori returned, and she gently wrapped Nori into a blanket. Nori didn’t open his eyes but he heard her shuffling about the kitchen, storing away the hares he had caught in the forest. He heard Ori babble again and then the rustling of his mother picking him up and feeding him.

Nori’s eyes remained closed and he didn’t move, simply listened to the sound of the fireplace and Kori’s soft voice singing an old lullaby of Erebor. It was familiar and calming, and he felt as if just this was enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> really, should I put up more warnings? O_O'
> 
> next chapter is Kori's point of view and things get less dire and turn towards the better again


	10. loyalty

For anyone who’d come to visit or walked into the kitchen, it would look like Kori was having a nice evening with some other women, with biscuits and tea. There was cake her son had managed to make with berries her other son had brought home last time he had left the mountain, and the tea was a good one they had kept in the pantry for a long time.

Jora was sitting unmoving on her chair, while Kori sometimes moved about to fetch more cups or plates when the others came and went. Nobody had that much time to stay the entire day. Some still had work, others had families. Jora didn’t have anywhere to go that was more important to her than the talk they were having in Kori’s kitchen.

She held Ori in her arms when he started to fuss or when his Ma couldn’t hold him. He was too small for them to let him be alone somewhere else, but also old enough to grow bored in a cradle.

There was nothing normal about the meeting though, at least not what normal meant to any respectable Dwarf. 

Kori and Jora barely talked, Kori kept her eyes fixed on her hands as she listened to the other Dams, thinking and carefully considering every word she was told, while Jora glanced back and forth, watching the older Dam rather than speaking.

“And you’re sure about what you just told us? They would destroy the wagons if the guard were to catch them? Destroy valuable food?”

Nyhsa flicked her braids over one shoulder, chin tilted up. She looked arrogant and vain, to those who didn’t know her, with her thick hair bound by rings and by cords of gold wire, something that made her look like easy prey. Especially with how small she was, not really someone who looked like a good thief at all.

Kori knew how good she was with her axes though, and she never was without Badr, and _none_ in their right mind would cross _her_ without a need for it.

“My brother works with the snow caravans,” she said running her hand through her braids. “He knows about how much the fishers can send into the south of Ered Luin, and he knows those who take some of the wagons headed to the markets and sell them themselves, for too much or to Men of all things! My brother knows and he knows the people and he knows that they’d rather loose an entire wagon than be arrested for smuggling. They don’t care about who gets or needs the fish.”

Kori saw how the Jora tensed a little, but she kept calm and only frowned. If someone was selling food that was meant for the Dwarves to Men, and kept the gold coming out of it for themselves it was bad for everyone. They should not be selling to Men anyway, with how little food they had and how the Men overpriced everything the Dwarves might need or refused to sell them anything at all, while still expecting the Dwarves to sell everything at a cheap price or be gone.

If the fishing were the only problem that’d be manageable, but there were thieves taking from the supply routes everywhere, making the markets empty and the prices too high. They didn’t care about what that did to Ered Luin or the health of the population; by the time the war was finally over they would be rich and they didn’t care for anything else.

Guards wouldn’t deal with the situation either, there were too few and there were too many independent thieves or nobles having a hand in the matter. The guards would be too busy checking the supplies leaving for the Misty Mountains anyway, as those would do more harm if they got lost. 

Which was why the young thieves and criminals now were gathered in Kori’s kitchen, or wrote her letters or sent messages by other means if they could not read. 

How it had ended up focusing on her, she didn’t know. Perhaps because every thief knew that Kori was honourable, at least with other thieves. And she was one of the oldest and best at what she did, because she knew the guard better than any shady Dwarf and because so many guardsmen knew her as the widow of a good man. 

She had been a part of the thief dens even in Erebor, she was clever and kind and she helped out anyone she could trust not to harm her, even letting them stay and hide in her own house.

Kori was respected, and she knew that every proper thief looked up to her, or respected her as equal.

It was also her who had had the idea of working together, when the first thieves had started to tell her about those who took too much, and those who did so much harm nobody else could get by. There were unspoken rules, and it’d be better to be careful, leave enough for the markets to be fine and other thieves with something to take if they needed more than their second crafts could give them, and Kori had tried to make those who followed them work together.

“Can you handle them? It too far north for us of the main city to do anything,” she said, and Nyhsa nodded firmly, curling one hand over Badr’s arm.

“We can, and my brother knows some who’d help us teach those bastards a lesson as well.”

Kori bowed her head.

“Then we shall figure out how to best strike, and I will see if anyone here would travel with you to help.”

She glanced at Jora who bounced Ori on her lap while frowning about something.

“Is there anyone?”

“Yes,” Jora said after some consideration. “I know at least two who need to leave this part or Ered Luin anyway, and I know they’d do this gladly if you asked them. I must ask around for others.”

“Good. Nyhsa, you and your brother can keep at least ten of us hidden in the houses above the snow line, yes?”

“Of course, the guard wouldn’t look up there, the people are peaceful. And if the fish smugglers try to hunt us down we shall travel down to you as well.”

“Yes, make sure that the guards and them won’t have anyone within their reach. I promise, I will do all I can to ensure that all of you are safe and that nobody will land in prison. I will find ways to get you out of Ered Luin if necessary, I will find those the guard and those bastards don’t know to protect your families.”

Jora looked up at Kori, worry in her eyes. Kori knew that she was doing more than anyone else would have thought of, and she _could_ do it too. 

There were enough people who owed her a favour or liked her or trusted her ideas to work. She didn’t want to use anyone without offering them all the protection she could organize, and her knowledge of the guard or plans to take out those who only harmed them.

She also knew that there was the danger of her being the one she couldn’t protect. There was the danger of someone finding out that she was the one who had thought everything up, who had gathered enough people to strike.

Burn their empty warehouses so that they’d have nowhere to hide their goods from the guard, threaten the cowardly ones with a knife through their heart, break their equipment and fight them out of their hiding places or let the guard know about what they did where that was possible.

Kori had planed each of the strikes, and she planed who would be doing what. If things got bad it would be her who’d suffer the most, as the supposed ringleader. She trusted everyone she asked for help now, but one could never know.

It was worth it, she should have done it earlier.

“We should be ready in a week,” she said, “I will make sure that everyone is ready and knows what to do. Let me know if there is anything else.”

Nyhsa nodded and then stood up, waving for Badr to follow her outside.

“We will, thank you.”

She bowed respectfully, the rings in her braids clanking together in a pretty chime, and then both women were gone, leaving Kori alone with Jora and her son.

She sighed and Jora moved closer, handing Ori over to his mother.

“Will you be fine?” Jora asked. “You know there’s so many loyal to you, but I do fear for you. All your plans, you’re focusing more on protecting everyone else than yourself.”

“I will make sure that me and my family are safe as well, if we have enough to spare. I won’t leave this place unless it’s absolutely necessary.”

She had argued with Jora about that before, but it was only right that she protected those who trusted her first. She’d have no right to ask for loyalty if she didn’t after all.

Ori giggled in her lap, and Kori held him closer. He was a toddler by now, old enough to not _need_ his mother anymore.

She thought about Dori, her reasonable steady and honourable Dori. He was a better head of the family that she could be, taking care of the house and their money and having proper work. He’d be good in raising Ori to be a good boy, if she wasn’t there.

And Nori… Nori needed her more than any of her children. He needed a mentor and a mother who was there to soothe him if things went bad, a mother who really did _understand_ him. 

He was so much better at what he did now, but the times were bad and this wasn’t Erebor, it was more dangerous that it had ever been for her. Kori did worry for what would happen to him.

If things got too bad and she’d be a danger to her family she could leave though, leave and know that her sons would be safe. It didn’t matter what would happen to her then.

Jora was still watching her, worried, and Kori met her eyes steadily.

“Whatever happens, it will be worth it.”

She wanted to reassure her friend, and even with Ori in her arms, she felt like she believed it herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there'll be another chapter describing what Kori will be up to in the future, and then it's back to Nori


	11. favours

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> today was a double update, so check whether you know the chapter before for things to make sense

The guard of Ered Luin served the young King, and did all they needed to uphold the law. They caught criminals and made sure that the mountain range was safe, that there were no fighting or shady dealings going on.

The guard of Ered Luin served the King, and only him, but there was a Queen as well, and they respected her more than they were supposed to, more than anyone would ever willingly admit.

She was no real Queen, she had no crown and if she was connected to the royal line there was nobody who remembered how. Nobody was entirely sure when she had started to reign over the underworld of Ered Luin, and none of the guards was sure whether she truly reigned or whether she was more like the head of the family, giving advice to her children and grandchildren and suggestions that everyone followed.

Most thought that she had appeared during the war, two decades ago now, when there had been a sudden rise in violence and fights and chaos in the known criminal quarters. The guard had done its very best then, but it had been over near instantly, with the prisons fuller and a handful of nobles disgraced for the smuggling they had been involved in.

The Queen made sure that there wasn’t one big lord taking too much or interfering in the markets, but there was also rumour going round that she liked to help thieves escape with precious things from the treasuries or get away with all sorts of crimes. 

The guard respected her nevertheless, because she also kept her subjects from running wild, and especially violence and assaults were things those who followed her didn’t do outside of the circles of their own kind.

Sometimes they found beaten and bruised unconscious Dwarves at the steps of the guardhouses, bound and with purple knotted threads lying on their chests. There was also a message attached in these cases, describing what and when these Dwarves had done, and it always was some crime the guard would never turn a blind eye on.

Sometimes the reverse happened, and they found bags of coin on the desks of the prison guard, along with letters and names of young Dwarves and criminals who had no family and nobody to pay bail for them. They were petty criminals in those cases, and often the guard liked and pitied them, but they could not been let go like that.

The letters usually paid for their freedom, and more often than not there were suggestions about what to do with the younger ones. Masters needing somebody to help or willing to take on apprentices even if they had a criminal record. These younger Dwarves never were seen in jail again, but if they did end up causing more trouble the Queen’s message would usually not come again.

The captains of the guard knew of that, and if another guard protested they’d point out how it wasn’t illegal, and how it cut down on criminals.

Sometimes the letters were messages about where a crime was planed, or about some nobles who were involved, and sometimes the messages were warnings about staying out of a certain street.

Sometimes the Queen annoyed them as well, when criminals escaped the reach of the guards and it was obvious that they couldn’t have done it alone.

Nevertheless, the Queen helped the guard about as much as she made their work harder, and all in all there was some balance, so the guard didn’t try tracking her down.

She didn’t seem to steal herself, or be actually involved. It was just _suggesting_ apparently, and she seemed to know everything about everyone or help the thieves do everything themselves.

It wasn’t truly a court where the Queen met her subjects. It was more about them finding her or her closest friends, or any of the shadier taverns. And no thief who spoke of her called her Queen either. It wasn’t like royalty, it seemed, and the thieves had their own titles in their little guild, but they didn’t tell the guards and the guards didn’t push it.

The Queen was there and the guard tolerated her, and in some ways she was even respected much more than any criminal should be.

 

*-*-*-*

It was cold when Ori finally got to return home, but it always was cold in this part of the mountain during winter. 

He might have been home hours ago, but he and some other students had promised to help their master sort out the mess of newly delivered scrolls and books for the library, and that had taken much longer than anyone had expected. At least it had been warm in the library.

Ori walked quickly, moving through the near empty streets and wondering what Dori had made for dinner. It would be getting dark soon, and he wanted to be home before that. There were few people about, and Ori knew enough to avoid them.

He clutched his bag with the heavy books and adjusted his scarf so that it covered his mouth and he could yawn without covering his mouth, as Dori always insisted on. Ori only did when people could see or Dori was nearby, but Dori wasn’t now.

Ori hadn’t expected the big hands suddenly grabbing his shoulders, and he made a terrified and surprised little whimper when he was pushed against a wall.

He didn’t know the Dwarf looming above him, didn’t recognize his braids or tattoos but he _did_ recognize how his hold onto Ori’s clothes and the knife in his belt meant no good.

“Empty out yer pockets and hand over the bag!” he growled, and Ori only managed to stammer and opened his mouth to tell him that what he had wasn’t even worth stealing.

“And if ye scream I’ll cut yer pretty face in two,” the Dwarf spat and pushed against Ori, who hadn’t really considered screaming for help, not with that knife in sight.

Before the Dwarf could do anything else there was a thump and him crying out in pain, letting go and swirling around to look at somebody who was behind him.

Ori didn’t quite get to see what happened, but he recognized the blur of a hammer connecting with the side of the Dwarves face sending him to the ground.

“Fool.”

The one who’d attacked Ori groaned but he looked unconscious now, and Ori dared to look at the one who’d saved him. He didn’t recognize her either. She was a young woman, glaring down at the Dwarf, her hear and beard braided neatly and decorated with simple copper clasps, her clothes for travel but very neat as if she hadn’t been on a journey yet.

The only thing that stood out to Ori was the tiny purple knot in the braid behind her ears, but he wasn’t sure why.

“Are you alright lad?” she asked, putting away the hammer and carefully reaching out her hands, as if not to startle him.

“Sure,” Ori stammered. He wasn’t afraid for some reason, only a little shocked about the sudden disturbance of his walk home. He just didn’t know how one was supposed to act around somebody who’d saved him like that.

The Dam looked him over, gently adjusting his ruffled scarf and touching his shoulders.

“You aren’t injured?”

“N-no? But thank you, I really did need the help. But I really do need to get home now, I’m already late and my Ma and brother might worry.”

The Dam smiled at his tone.

“So little and yet so formal. Go on then. I’ll see that this one here’s up to meeting with some nice guardsmen.”

She bowed to him, and Ori was too startled to return the gesture, hurrying along and away, getting home before it got dark the only thing on his mind.

When he finally was in their house and ready for dinner, Dori didn’t notice how anything was off, only muttered something about masters keeping children too late. Ori didn’t bother telling him about it either.

They started eating the roast Dori had prepared, since their Ma was still busy with work.

She did walk into the kitchen soon after they started dinner, carrying a basket of wool in one hand and adjusting her favourite shawl with the other.

“This smells wonderful my gem,” she commented and went to stash the basket into a corner, before getting herself a plate as well.

Ori watched her, wondering whether he should tell her. Dori would worry much more than Ori wanted, but he wasn’t sure what his mother would say. He watched her and glanced at her pretty purple shawl, one she had weaved herself.

It was purple, with threads worked into beautiful knots at the sides, a shape that was worked into the material in different shades of purple. A shape he had seen so often, and today in the hair of a stranger.

Ori glanced at Dori and then at his plate, keeping quiet. Dori never spoke about certain things their mother did, and he got angry if Nori and her talked about secrets when Ori was near, so he didn’t know much. He knew enough to know hat Dori only tolerated what Nori was doing because he was their brother, and ignored what their Ma did completely.

He dared to look back at the pretty knot shape on his Ma’s shawl again, wondering whether it was just a symbol or whether it had a meaning. The pattern meant ‘Ma’ to him, nothing more, but he had seen it on people who weren’t his Ma. People who had protected him anyway, for her perhaps.

Ori smiled and tried to turn to the roast so that Dori wouldn’t see and ask what he was thinking about. He didn’t know everything, but Ori knew how to keep secrets after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kori is now the honorary mum of a bunch of criminals... even though a lot of them are older than her...  
> Next chapter it's back to Nori and Dwalin


	12. honey

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tis smutty

There were things that ought to grow tedious the more you did them. Exhausting things, things that barely served any purpose and things you needed to do over and over, things that were dull to do as well. Still, somehow Dwalin didn’t mind traveling back and forth between the southern part of the Blue Mountains and the main range of Ered Luin.

They did need guards down there sometimes, guards to bring messages and stay for a few weeks to assist if needed. The south was quieter, with smaller towns and mostly just farmers living on the mountain slopes and in the sheltered valleys, and they didn’t need much help from the capital, so usually it was the younger guards sent over there. 

Since Dwalin had always been one of the best in the ranks, and a noble at that, he didn’t actually _have_ to leave the capital and where all of his family was. He did volunteer though, he didn’t mind and he felt like it was best to do the sort of work only few wanted to.

He liked traveling alone, sometimes, and the lands were safe there, protected by rangers somewhere to the northeast, by Dwarves anywhere near the mountains and by Elves to the east, though Dwalin didn’t like getting too close to their port there. 

It was also calming, sometimes, to not be around anyone at all for a few days in a row. Sometimes it was just calming enough to breathe and feel some fresh air and feel the presence of rock and mountains everywhere. It was the next best thing to walking in old mines and feeling the rock sing all around him.

But especially in the first few years after returning from the Misty Mountains Dwalin sometimes just… couldn’t be in long lonely tunnels and feel the ancient shafts all around him. It reminded him of the things he’d seen. 

He had thought he must be broken; a Dwarf who couldn’t bear being in the tunnels of mountains, the place Mahal had created them for. Who’d ever heard of that?

By now Dwalin didn’t mind it anymore, but he had also learned to appreciate wandering on the mountain’s surface.

It was getting late that day, not nearly late enough to set up camp for the night, but Dwalin was in no rush and he knew that there was a good and mostly Dwarfish inn not too far away. Staying there would be nice and he could make up for the lost travel time the next day. He didn’t have that much in his travel bag, so the lightness would allow it to walk more later on, without getting too exhausted. 

The inn wasn’t very full when Dwalin entered, but it usually only got so closer to the evening. A group of Dwarves and one Man were sitting in one corner, drinking and laughing about something, and some more Dwarves sat around alone or in pairs.

Some glanced up when the door opened but most went on with their business, so Dwalin walked over to the bar to order something to drink and rent a room for the night.

“Oh, hello dearie,” the innkeeper called when she spotted him. The only stranger who ever used such nicknames on him, despite Dwalin’s statue and the scars and tattoos all over his face. She was used to all sorts of folk passing by, and the guards travelling from one part of Ered Luin to the other. “You staying here for the night this time?”

“Course, didn’t feel like walking any longer today.”

“Oh, sure dearie,” she winked and walked off to fetch one of the keys, leaving Dwalin to wait and look around. 

He didn’t think he recognized anyone there by name, though some of the Dwarves looked like he had met them before, on his journeys. Some of those he knew a little better and had shared a table with might arrive later in the evening, local settlers all of them.

There was one Dwarf, sitting a bit further away at the bar, who drew Dwalin’s eye, and he watched him with interest, wondering why he looked familiar.

He was wearing simple grey travel clothes; all of them well worn and his boots were very solid and sturdy but looked dirty and were covered with soil as if the Dwarf had been wandering for a long time now. There was a bag standing on the ground between his legs, and he was turned away from the rest, drinking from his pitcher and not minding anyone’s business.

Dwalin watched his movements, trying to remember. The Dwarf was relaxed where he sat, one foot tapping against his bag occasionally, and his beautifully braided hair gleaming red in the light of the lamps and the sunlight still falling through the windows. He was pretty, Dwalin supposed, just his type, but it was only when the Dwarf turned his head to look towards where the innkeeper had gone when Dwalin realized.

“Nori!” he called out, pleasantly surprised to see the last Dwarf he’d expected out here. He had spent so long staring at that face once, and even with his now long and braided beard his face was still recognizable.

Nori startled where he sat, turning towards where Dwalin stood up to walk over to him. His eyes widened and Dwalin saw how he very nearly recoiled as his gaze fell on the travel armour and the weapons Dwalin was carrying, befpre his eyes moved up to Dwalin’s face, over his scars and tattoos and there was tenseness and shock in Nori’s eyes.

Then finally he froze, mouth falling open, and his shoulders slumped from their defensive position.

“Dwalin?”

He laughed, looking Dwalin over again, slower this time. Dwalin had to resist the urge to try and puff his chest up or do anything to show himself off. There was no need for that with Nori, they’d seen each other naked countless of times after all, there was no need to try and impress him.

He’d just been a boy then though, now he was a fully-grown adult Dwarf, standing higher than even his father had and his shoulders broader and more muscles everywhere. Nori wasn’t how he had been either after all.

“So you’re alive? Survived so many decades and still looking whole.”

Nori gave Dwalin a smile, and it was a warm one, as if he was genuinely happy to see Dwalin here. 

“Survived, and you even look like you’ve benefitted from what life threw at you. It’s a good look.”

He gestured at all of Dwalin with his pitcher.

Dwalin tried to hide the pleased smirk. Instead he made a move to sit down next to Nori, pulling up a chair and putting it as close next to Nori as was still not invading his space too much. Nori pushed his bag out of the way with his feet and leaned his head on one hand, watching Dwalin settle down.

“’d take a lot more years for me to come out worse out of it. Whatever you’ve been up to left you in good shape as well.”

Nori’s smile widened a little, and he narrowed his eyes at Dwalin. He didn’t reply to that, still watching him as if he was trying to come to a conclusion. So Dwalin just turned to the innkeeper who’d just come out to give him a key to one of the rooms.

“Two meads, please!” he told her, “on me, we’ve got to celebrate!”

“Ooh, what’s the occasion?” the Dam asked, fetching two pitchers to fill them.

Dwalin glanced at Nori who was still watching him.

“I’ve just met a good friend I haven’t seen in decades!”

The Dam nodded and placed the full pitchers in front of them, taking the coins Dwalin owed her for those and the room.

“That’s always lovely.”

She then returned to her work, leaving Dwalin and Nori to sit alone.

Dwalin took a swig from his mead, and next to him Nori snorted.

“Good friend? We’ve only known each other for two weeks at the time.”

“Aye, but it was a good two weeks.”

Nori’s smile softened at that and he gave Dwalin an amused look.

“Aye.”

He took his own mead as well, taking smaller sips as if he was savouring the taste and wasn’t out to just get a little drunk and relax right away.

Dwalin tried not to stare at him too openly, tried not to make it obvious that he was watching the lines on Nori’s face and how he looked older, how the way he moved was so similar and yet subtly different from how he’d been like when he was still a lad. He also hoped that it wouldn’t be obvious just how much he was checking Nori out, and how he couldn’t help but picture how much he’d have changed in an undressed state. He tried to distract himself by taking another swig from the mead.

Nori’s voice was quieter than it had been before, and it sounded rougher, but Dwalin felt nostalgic as he listened to him talk. It was easy with Nori, even though they had only spent a little time together as young lads. It was easy to talk and laugh and tell about things they’d seen or that had changed over time, about travelling or the weapons they were carrying by now.

Dwalin told him about how he was a guard now, and a little bit about his career and that he was going south because of it. He didn’t want to bore Nori with it, so he tried to keep it down. Nori seemed to be interested though, and told Dwalin something about returning home, to the north of the Blue Mountains.

It was bad taste, but Dwalin’s mind kept drifting away from the conversation, and he kept glancing at Nori in a way that probably wasn’t appropriate. 

He had missed him, sometimes. Had liked to think about him when he needed relief or was bored and had nothing better to do than having a quick wank. And Nori had been such a pretty picture to have in mind as well. With the memory of how silky his hair had been underneath Dwalin’s hands and the taste of his skin as Dwalin had kissed it all over.

Not only that, he had just been nice to be around, to talk to. Back then Dwalin hadn’t really pushed for anything, had known that he would be gone soon enough and that both he and Nori had only ever spoken of their arrangement as nothing but an arrangement. He had liked Nori a lot though, had been so shocked when a Dwarf as pretty as him had invited him along and had smiled and laughed with him. He would even admit to himself that he had a crush on Nori, while they were together, and from the way Nori acted he had been sure that Nori had liked him like that as well.

Now as well, even when Dwalin was sure he was saying something stupid, or making jokes that were only funny to him, Nori smiled and laughed with him, and his hand was on Dwalin’s arm more often than not, warm against his skin.

He shouldn’t be thinking about Nori naked, about Nori stretched out underneath him, moaning and clinging to him, just because they had fucked a few times in their youth. There was no reason to think that Nori would want that again.

Dwalin still did, still edged closer sometimes, when he thought Nori wouldn’t mind him in his space, touched his shoulder or didn’t look away when Nori caught him looking him up and down.

Nori did the same, he was sure of it, watched Dwalin with intent and leaned into each of his touches and sometimes his leg rested against Dwalin’s thigh and when he shifted on his chair his foot rubbed again it. 

The inn was slowly filling but they were left alone, and eventually Dwalin felt like he shouldn’t drink any more than he already had. He thought about how good Nori had felt like in his arms, how he had smelt of hay and copper and honey, and how he had watched him the entire time now.

“Are you staying in some room at the inn?” Dwalin asked slowly, after he had drained the last of his mead.

Nori fiddled with a loose thread on his sleeve, leaning his head to the side as if he was considering something.

“No, I haven’t decided where I’m staying tonight. I would have been on my way if I hadn’t had company.”

Dwalin’s hand clenched around the key to his room.

“Do you want to stay in mine for the night?”

It was a clumsy attempt at seducing anyone, and he wasn’t sure whether Nori wanted him, though he had told him how he’d like to see him again before.

Nori gave him a wolfish grin.

“Up for a fuck after so many years?”

His grin only widened as Dwalin felt his cheeks flush a little.

“Well then… With pleasure.”

They moved past the other Dwarves in the inn, ignored by all of them. Nori shouldered his bag and lead the way, leaving Dwalin to watch his arse as he walked up the stairs to where the inn’s rooms were.

Dwalin found the door with the symbol edged on his key, and as soon as he had opened it he found himself with an armful of Dwarf, getting kissed roughly and deeply.

His arms curled around Nori, holding him close as he kissed back, and with some fumbling they managed to get the door closed and locked behind them without loosing too much time or contact.

Nori was so small against Dwalin’s body, and he somehow felt even smaller than he had all these years ago. They dropped their bags and kicked their boots to the floor, undressing quickly before Nori rubbed himself against Dwalin again, and Dwalin noticed how Nori _was_ taller, and had broader shoulders and was all edges and hard muscles. He still was so small against Dwalin, and that was good.

The kissed and stroked each other’s bodies, moving to the bed as they did so. It was dim in the room and they couldn’t really see everything, but Dwalin felt how Nori’s fingers dragged over the thickest lines of his tattoos, exploring them.

Dwalin did the same with Nori’s body, spreading his hands over his ribs and feeling him move and breathe against him, feeling his muscles and scars that hadn’t been there before and shouldn’t be on a body that wasn’t a warrior’s.

Nori shuddered and moaned and Dwalin tried to push him against the bed and laid him out on the blankets, but Nori slipped out of his hold and towards where he had dropped his bag.

“Here,” he said after digging through it and producing an object he pressed into Dwalin’s hands.

It was a little tin, and as Dwalin opened it he found that it contained some sort of salve.

“Always prepared, are you?” he growled, scooping out some of it as Nori stretched out on the bed and laughed at him.

He put the tin on the edge of the bed and climbed onto it, kneeling over Nori. Then Dwalin was pulled down fast enough that he nearly lost his balance, and Nori wrapped his arms around Dwalin’s back to keep him close for kisses.

They didn’t speak, just kissed and bit at each other’s lips and Nori’s fingers kneaded at Dwalin’s shoulders and scratched against his back when Dwalin stroked over his belly and reached down between his legs to breach him and prepare him with the salve. 

Nori trembled and twitched when Dwalin started to spread him with his fingers, slowly pushing in one, then two. As he did so Nori’s gasps grew louder and he bit Dwalin’s shoulder to keep the noises down. It left Dwalin with the opportunity to press his face against Nori’s messy braid, feeling the scent of forests and foliage and honey and the silky softness of his hair. 

After fumbling for the salve and gathering some of it in his hand, Nori’s fingers found Dwalin’s cock, and he started to stroke him, spreading the slick. Dwalin nearly lost is balance again, crying out against Nori’s neck at the light and teasing touch of his fingers.

Nori had always been good with his hands, but he was _better_ now. Again Nori laughed at him, and kissed Dwalin’s temple before that could get him a complaint.

They kissed and rubbed against each other and eventually Nori pulled Dwalin’s hand away and lifted his hips so that Dwalin’s cock was brushing against his arse, telling him that he was ready.

It took Dwalin some efforts to be _slow_ as he pushed inside Nori, trembling with the restrained energy and feeling Nori move underneath him, trying to arch up against his hands. When Dwalin was finally sheathed inside of him he let out a groan, and then Nori’s fingers were in his beard and pulled his face down for a long deep kiss. They stayed like that, nearly unmoving apart from a lazy roll of Nori’s hips and his soft moans.

There wasn’t anything artful about how they fucked afterwards. Dwalin thrust his hips against Nori a few times, letting him adjust, and then picked up on speed. 

Nori’s hands stroked over all he could reach, and he seemed to be content to pull Dwalin down once in a while, for another kiss. He arched his hips up in rhythm with Dwalin thrusting down, and he made pleased encouragements when Dwalin was getting particularly rough or gripped him tight or bit what he could reach of Nori’s shoulders.

When Dwalin let his hands roam over Nori’s body to set to exploring it again, Nori’s hands wrapped around his wrists. For a moment Dwalin thought that Nori wanted him to stop, and he stilled all movements, but then Nori just dragged his hands over to rest against his sides and stomach, making a pleased little hiss when Dwalin’s calloused palms stroked over sensitive skin.

He let go when Dwalin picked up on it, returning to his pace and making sure to touch Nori where the smaller Dwarf had indicated.

Dwalin knew he wouldn’t last for much longer like that. He grabbed Nori’s hips, lifting them higher so that Nori’s back arched up above the bed, leaving him to clutch at the sheets or Dwalin’s shoulder for balance.

Nori braced his legs against the mattress, letting out sharp cries in time with Dwalin’s groans and thrusts. He reached down between them, stroking himself and Dwalin held him tighter with one hand, his grip nearly bruising, to reach down as well and wrap his fingers around Nori’s slimmer ones and his cock, stroking out of tact and hearing how Nori chocked back a scream when he spilled over both their hands and bellies.

Not soon after Dwalin felt his own climax building, and he pressed his face against Nori’s neck as he came, snarling wordlessly and feeling how he was being held as he snapped his hips a few times more.

After he just lay there, breathing heavy and feeling the smell of honey and forests that stuck to Nori’s skin.

“Mm, that was nice,” Nori eventually purred, stretching out slightly and then snuggling against Dwalin, his lips pressed against the side of Dwalin’s head.

Dwalin only managed a groan in reply, half muffled against Nori’s chest but he felt it shake when Nori laughed at him. He did that a lot, and usually Dwalin hated it when people did it, but somehow he didn’t mind Nori’s laughter. He loved it, actually.

Nori didn’t push him off, like most others would when Dwalin started aggressively cuddling, and it really wasn’t comfortable. He did like holding Nori though, and Nori seemed to be content like that.

They just lazed around, not saying anything, and if Nori hadn’t been running his fingers through Dwalin’s hair idly Dwalin would have assumed that he had fallen asleep.

It got too uncomfortable after a while, when their sweat cooled off and they were still sticky all over. Dwalin untangled himself from Nori to go fetch some water and cloth from the corner of the room. 

He cleaned himself up quickly, then set to do it more thoroughly and gently for Nori. The water was cold, as Dwalin really didn’t want to bother getting warm one from downstairs, and Nori only grumbled about the cold for a little bit, then just leaned back to enjoy Dwalin giving him his full attention.

Just watching Nori like that, and exploring his body when he wasn’t moving was nice. When he was done he took the time to put the towel and bowl of water away, then crawled into bed. Nori curled up against him before Dwalin could ask whether he wanted to stay, so he took it as an invitation to hold Nori close and pull the blankets up to cover them both.

Dwalin nearly dozed off several times, but he still felt too restless to actually sleep. The noises coming from the inn’s bar usually weren’t enough to keep Dwalin from sleeping, but now he lay awake and listened to them.

Nori was warm against him and it wasn’t even midnight yet, though the room was too dark to tell anything else. Eventually there was a rustling noise and Nori propped up on his elbow, head turned as if he was watching Dwalin.

“Can’t sleep?”

“Not tired enough,” Dwalin replied and ran his knuckles over Nori’s bare spine gently. “Did I disturb you?”

He saw how Nori shook his head, felt his hair brush against him,

“I don’t mind. Do you want another fuck to tire you out?”

Dwalin felt heat gather low in his stomach at the suggestion, and he _was_ interested. He wasn’t sure whether it was such a good idea though.

“Not sure if I should… I need to travel a lot tomorrow, wouldn’t want to be too tired out. And it would wake me up more than make me sleep, sorry…”

Nori moved a little, shifting down on the bed with his hand trailing down Dwalin’s stomach.

“Do you want me to suck you off?”

Dwalin’s cock did stir at the suggestion, and he nodded. Before he could readjust on the bed or sit up, Nori gently squeezed his shoulders and slid down on the bed, settling between Dwalin’s legs and brushing his fingers over Dwalin’s cock, stroking it to hardness.

Nori’s tongue licked against the tip once, twice, stopping each time Dwalin’s hips twitched as he tried not to thrust up against the touch. Dwalin griped the sheets with one hand, not quite daring to reach out to Nori with the other until Nori’s hand lead his towards his hair, letting him hold on.

“Just don’t pull,” he asked, before setting to work again.

His tongue circled the crown of Dwalin’s cock, then he took it into his mouth, alternating between sucking and licking broad stripes along the length of it.

Dwalin leaned his head against the pillows, closing his eyes, as there wasn’t much to see and just enjoyed the sensation of Nori’s mouth working on him. 

It wasn’t too teasing, just a steadily building pleasure and Nori’s mouth and hand on his cock. It felt good, really good and warm and nice and for a moment Dwalin wondered when Nori had learned that.

He managed to mutter a warning when he felt his second climax of the night approaching, but Nori just petted his stomach gently and sucked on, not minding the soft moans as Dwalin couldn’t hold back any longer.

Nori sucked him clean, then he shifted back up to settle against Dwalin’s side. Dwalin felt him smile when his cheek was kissed, and a hand brushed through his beard, petting it. Wrapping his arms around him Dwalin pulled Nori closer, cuddling him and feeling warm and pleasantly exhausted.

“Now go to sleep,” Nori told him, and this time Dwalin obeyed.

 

*

The next morning Dwalin woke with his arm numb and Nori still sleeping cuddled up against him, using his shoulder as a pillow. He looked younger like that, nearly like he had been when they first met.

Dwalin wouldn’t have minded staying like that, watching him, but his arm really wasn’t comfortable like that. When he tried to move to pull it free as carefully as he could, Nori woke immediately, glancing around before his eyes met Dwalin’s and narrowed in a smile.

“Morning,” he muttered, voice hoarse from sleep.

He rolled against Dwalin’s chest, down from his arm to give him the opportunity to move. Dwalin just shifted where he was, getting his aching arm out of the way. He had no intentions of getting up just jet, with Nori so comfortable against him.

Nori seemed pleased by it, but didn’t let Dwalin hold him anyway. He climbed down from the bed, stretching and yawning, not minding that Dwalin was looking him over again, pleased by the display. Then he went to pick up his clothes and quickly set to getting dressed.

“I really have to go,” he said, tone apologetic. “Much as I’d like another round or just your sweet company.”

Dwalin snorted but waved him off. He had to leave soon anyway, if he wanted to manage a day’s worth of walking.

He watched Nori get dressed, pleased about the bite marks on his shoulders and the red marks over his hips. By the time Nori was done and set to bring his hair in order he seemed nervous about something.

As Nori dug through his bag to get out his combs he kept glancing at Dwalin, always careful not to open the bag further than he had to. Dwalin had no interest in prying into Nori’s privacy, and whatever made him worry wasn’t his business.

“Will you stay in the Blue Mountains?” Dwalin asked, making Nori pause.

“Yes,” he said slowly, “for another few months if nothing comes up, maybe longer.”

“Do you still live in the main caverns?”

Nori was watching him then, his hands slowly sinking from where he was done with braiding his hair.

“Yes, with my family.”  
Dwalin wondered why he was being so slow about answering simple questions, but he was in a good mood and this was Nori, so strange behaviour didn’t annoy him.

“I’ll be back in two months, and I don’t think I’ll have much to do then. Maybe I can visit you? Or you come to the guardhouse if you don’t want that,” he added quickly as he saw Nori tense. The remark only made him look even more withdrawn.

Didn’t Nori want to see him again? Had he maybe assumed too much? Dwalin would have loved to have Nori around for more than some encounters by chance, but he wouldn’t want to push it, as disappointing as the rejection was.

Nori must have seen how Dwalin’s face dropped, and his shoulders relaxed.

“I’m not at home that much, and I don’t think my brother would like random strangers coming round to look for me,” he explained, limps twitching into a smile.

“Do you know the jade well? Near the masons’ guilt house? Well, there’s a pub I sometimes go to, if you come round there in the evenings there’s a chance of me being there as well.”

Dwalin perked up at the offering, glad that Nori hadn’t rejected him because he didn’t wish to see him again.

“I’ll look there,” he promised, and Nori’s smile was nearly shy at that.

“Alright.”

He threw his bag over his shoulder, glancing towards the door and back at Dwalin. Then he muttered something under his breath and took a few quick steps towards the bed, leaning down to give Dwalin one brief soft kiss before turning to flee through the door. 

Dwalin watching him disappear and then chuckled quietly to himself, then leaned back against the side of the pillow Nori had used, and allowed himself just a few more moments of doing nothing but enjoying the thought of having found his youth’s crush again.


	13. secrets

Dwalin knew his lover was a thief.

When he first returned to Ered Luin from the south he had only half expected to find Nori again. There was no guarantee that he hadn’t moved on somewhere else, that he was in the mountains or that he even really cared about Dwalin enough to do things… differently.

But Nori was in the pub he had told Dwalin about, and he had looked happy to see him and Dwalin didn’t even feel too silly about still wearing his traveling clothes. He hadn’t felt like getting changed into something fine and better, as the wish to go and look for Nori was greater than the wish to impress him.

It was good from then on.

At first Nori and Dwalin only ever met to drink or walk together, they didn’t end up sleeping together again for a long while after that one time in the inn. Dwalin wanted Nori, of course, and sometimes Nori looked at him with hunger in his eyes, but neither initiated anything, happy to just be together, comfortable and trying to find out whether they _fit_ together.

Nori was nearly shy when what they did couldn’t be described as anything _but_ dating anymore. And Dwalin would forever treasure the soft curving of his lips when he smiled and turned away to hide his face each time Dwalin kissed him goodbye. 

They worked well together, enjoyed each other’s company and there was more between them than just superficial attraction and being good in bed together. Dwalin enjoyed the time spent with Nori, and Nori would sometimes pout when Dwalin couldn’t meet him as often as he liked because of his shifts falling on times Nori didn’t have anything to do.

Nori had little quirks sometimes, when he’d hide behind Dwalin casually but still out of nowhere, or when he’d disappear for a minute or two when they were walking. Each time he’s say something about seeing someone he didn’t want to talk to. Sometimes he would refuse to go to certain places on certain times, mostly the markets. 

Each time he did something that Dwalin raised his eyebrows at, Nori would look away and press his lips together, apologizing and telling Dwalin that they could just meet later. It was nearly as if he expected Dwalin to be too fed up with all of it. Dwalin didn’t mind though, none of it was something that was bothering him, and if he didn’t understand why Nori was doing something, he didn’t feel like he had the right to berate Nori for it.

Besides, he had his own quirks after all. Parts of Ered Luin’s new settlements were built were the ancient Dwarfish realms had once been, but some of the oldest mines and tunnels weren’t used anymore. They were a good enough place to wander, beautiful caverns, both worked on or left as the rock had grown, which were just perfect for a walk, and of course Nori and Dwalin occasionally ended up there. 

Sometimes Dwalin couldn’t bear it though, especially when Nori wandered towards where the really old mines were. It was too much like Khazad-Dûm, sometimes still more than Dwalin was comfortable with. He didn’t mind really, but it still dampened his mood too much for him to really be good company for Nori.

Nori never questioned it when Dwalin didn’t want to go somewhere, just as Dwalin never did with Nori, though he handled it with more grace. There were places Nori knew of that were as quiet as the tunnels, but on the mountain surface. Cliffs looking over the valleys below and places where one could just sit and watch the sky, and Dwalin liked them better than anything.

Dwalin sometimes told Nori about his work and family, and he wanted to introduce him to his cousins. Balin wasn’t there most of the times, wandering and working in the East more than staying in Ered Luin. They met Glóin and Óin, though, both of whom seemed to like Nori well. Dwalin didn’t make Nori go to meet the part of his family, who were the heirs to the throne of Erebor in the end. 

Dwalin only rarely left the part of the mountains he was in nowadays, but Nori was gone quite often, usually for just a few days at a time, a month at the most. Which was why he didn’t seem to have one proper place he lived in. He at least never invited Dwalin to stay at his place and never spoke of home, other than the one he had grown up in. 

It didn’t matter. Dwalin’s flat was modest and much smaller than it could have been, comfortable enough for one adult Dwarf, but it didn’t feel like Nori was taking up too much space when his things started to appear in the flat and he stayed the night more and more. Some of his spare clothes now were tucked in between Dwalin’s old shirts, and there were unfinished wooden clasps lying on Dwalin’s desk between the quartz crystals he had worked on, and more brushes and combs than he had ever bothered to use lay on the bedside table, along with a hand loom and wool in all corners. 

There were times when Nori would disappear without warning, sometimes for days, or weeks, two months was the longest. Dwalin didn’t know what to think about that, but each time Nori returned he’d apologize and hug Dwalin and promise that everything was alright.

Dwalin hadn’t really bothered with trying to keep his hair brushed out and neat on a regular basis; it’d just tangle and get messy way too soon and it just wasn’t pretty enough. With Nori there he had someone to take care of it, and sometimes he’d still be half asleep in the morning, dozing against Nori’s chest while he brushed and braided and combed and made Dwalin’s hair shine.

Nori seemed to see it as his personal duty to ensure that his lover’s hair was more than just a briefly brushed mess, and Dwalin got more than one teasing comment from the other guards when the saw him wearing simple clasps and the care put into his hair.

Sometimes Dwalin did wonder about what Nori was doing when they weren’t together or when he was wandering. Occasionally Nori would mention something about being a courier of sorts, for his family or friends, and that seemed to be part of the truth. Dwalin did see him having hunting knives though and knives, which were meant to be carried hidden away, and there were things a courier would not need in Nori’s bag. He only ever saw it in passing, and never actually touched Nori’s things when it wasn’t necessary, and didn’t think about it further.

Month passed, then years, and Dwalin told Nori that he loved him when they were neither drunk nor teasing each other, but sitting on a bench at a public square, just watching people. Nori had just leaned against Dwalin’s shoulder and laced their fingers together, but Dwalin had seen how he tried to hide his soft smile.

Sometimes Dwalin _worried_ about what Nori did. Sometimes Nori returned tired and miserable and looked as if he had only come by so that Dwalin could make him food and to use Dwalin’s bed and to be held while he slept. Sometimes Nori didn’t want Dwalin to touch him at all, and then there were times when Dwalin would hold Nori in his arms, stroking his skin idly and see scars from fights that hadn’t been there the last time he held him. 

Some of the scars were old, some looked like they had been treated very crudely at the time. Dwalin knew these sorts, he himself had seen enough injuries from the war, caravans and being a guard, knew that not having a healer near was a terrible thing when one was already in pain and scared. He knew that Nori wasn’t supposed to know that, and each time he saw a new injury he’d hold Nori tighter and press his face against Nori’s hair, while Nori pretended not to notice.

There were days when it was Nori worrying, early mornings when he’d hold on to Dwalin while they were still in bed, telling him to be careful in a way that sounded more serious than the usual throwaway comments of the kind Dwalin had gotten. Sometimes Nori would really cling to him, watching him with sincere eyes and _demand_ that he stay safe.

On some of these occasions Dwalin heard of some rather violent criminals being arrested on a pointer a bit after, and sometimes it happened that some guards had to intervene in a large fight in one of the shadier parts of Ered Luin, and got out injured. Once Dwalin heard about it when he was just leaving for home and he was sure that only those many criminals present and the guard would have had the time to tell the story. 

But when he returned home Nori was waiting, eyes wide, and he hugged Dwalin tight before quickly stepping away and looking him over, just the way one did to check for injuries after sparing or a bad fall. 

“I heard about what happened, I wasn’t sure whether you weren’t there. It is a place you often go with guards, isn’t it?”

He didn’t explain it any more, and when he kissed him and clung to Dwalin more than usual when they slept together, Dwalin tried to reason with himself, tried to think about how Nori might have heard about it anywhere, that it didn’t _have_ to be something the criminals of Ered Luin might first spread among themselves.

Nori didn’t talk much about his family, didn’t mention his father at all and his mother only occasionally. There was a younger brother, one that hadn’t been born yet when he’d first met Dwalin, and one he was proud of, as well as an older one, who he seemed to argue with a lot. 

From they way he spoke of them Dwalin sometimes got the impression that Nori was somehow an outcast in his family, and that his older brother had kicked him out of the house for one reason or another. He felt sorry for Nori, and wondered how he could speak of past arguments lightly if it had ended like that. 

That worry didn’t last long, and Dwalin when did meet Nori’s brothers it was by chance. He had run into Nori unexpectedly, when he was on his way to the markets and Nori was just standing around in front of a shop, and neither of them had made plans about meeting up. Nori had been surprised, but pleasantly so, but he didn’t follow Dwalin at his offer of having lunch together.

Dwalin found out why when a young boy came out of the shop that minute, carrying a stack of parchments and calling out to Nori excitedly, quickly followed by a mithril-haired Dwarf with even more parchments and another bag.

Nori introduced them as Dori and Ori, his brothers, and there was nothing bitter in any of their faces, they acted just like any other family. Which meant that despite the arguments Dwalin didn’t need to worry about Nori’s family, perhaps.

Before he could introduce himself, Nori did it for him, adding that they were lovers with a soft smile. Ori just seemed happy for him, but Dori looked Dwalin over, judging, eyes lingering on his uniform and weapons and scars, before giving Nori a look. He didn’t say anything that would indicate that he disapproved of Dwalin. He just told Nori that they wouldn’t need help carrying their things home should he wish to spend his time with Dwalin instead.

There wasn’t much else Dwalin found out about Nori’s family.

Only once did he ask about his parents, casually, out of curiosity, and Nori didn’t reply at all, until they lay in bed and he quietly mentioned that his father had been in the War, all these years ago. He didn’t elaborate, but Dwalin understood that he must have been one of the many fallen, like his own father was.

Neither Dwalin nor Nori very actually very public in their love. They sometimes did act affectionate around each other when they weren’t in private, but most of the time they didn’t behave differently than very close friends would.

But as the years passed more and more people they often were around just knew about them. Their lives fit together now, and Dwalin found himself planning ahead based on what Nori was doing, even if that was near impossible with how quick he changed his mind about anything. His home was now adjusted to suit Nori better, his bed was now filled with more pillows and blankets than Dwalin would have bothered to get, all because Nori liked it comfortable and Dwalin liked Nori happy.

Once Nori told him that he might try cooking soup by his mother’s recipe, and whether he was allowed to ruin the little kitchen in Dwalin’s flat. It ended with them teasing each other and Nori leaning back in his chair, hand’s over his chest and wiping away non-existent tears, sighing about how he only wanted to make his sweetheart food, and how one burnt down city shouldn’t be more important than his feelings.

When Dwalin suggested that Nori should just bring him lunch to work and he’d forgive him any damage to his kitchen, Nori shook his head and dropped the subject. 

At the time Dwalin didn’t loose any more thoughts about it, but Nori _did_ avoid Dwalin’s work as much as he could. Never once did Nori take Dwalin up on the offer to come to the guardhouse, and sometimes Dwalin nearly felt like Nori was afraid to have anything to do with Dwalin’s colleagues at all.

Perhaps he didn’t like the guard, Dwalin could understand that, lots of Dwarves were weary, especially if they had been in a lot of trouble in their youth. That couldn’t be it though, Nori never said a bad word about what Dwalin did, and on the few occasions in which they ran into Dwalin’s fellow guards Nori was perfectly respectful, nearly more than usual. 

He also knew things about the guard, like how some things Dwalin mentioned were good for his career, and how Nori had understood that Dwalin was considered for a promotion before Dwalin had to explain. As if he actually had had friends in the guard before.

That did give Dwalin hope when he first started to get suspicions about Nori. Nobody who had something to hide would respect guards that much.

It did not stop the suspicions though.

He occasionally saw Nori in the less than proper city quarters and that wasn’t a crime, but sometimes Nori didn’t see Dwalin, and talked with others who Dwalin was certain weren’t up to anything good. He sparred with Nori and sometimes Nori flicked his knives in an absent minded way, artful and show-offish. And Dwalin was sure that he only ever known those who tried to intimidate others do it like that. 

Sometimes Nori would relax against Dwalin’s side and talk to him about random things, completely at ease, and he sometimes moved his hand to emphasise a point. More than once Dwalin saw gestures that couldn’t be anything but thieves’ cant out of the corner of his eye, and each time he’d try not to tense or let Nori notice that he’d seen. It didn’t mean anything after all. Maybe Dwalin was wrong; maybe Nori only made the gesture on accident and didn’t know what it meant.

And sometimes Nori scoffed and mentioned Dwarves that acted wrong or that none of his friends liked. Dwalin never really knew any of them, but he listened and commented when it was appropriate. And sometimes, just sometimes Dwalin would help arrest some unpleasant sorts, or see them in prison, sorts that their fellow thieves didn’t like and didn’t help, and their names were just the names Nori had used when he ranted. 

Which could be coincidence, of course, it didn’t have to mean that Nori actually knew thieves well enough to know who was doing what. It didn’t mean that Nori was in contact with the thieves and was part of it. It could mean that he just had been close to someone who knew better before; Dwalin didn’t know everything about him after all. 

He doubted, and watched Nori, and the uncertainty was the worst of it really. Nori noticed that Dwalin was different, that he was being watched, and sometimes he glanced at him as if he was bracing himself for something. It hurt Dwalin that Nori was aware of him knowing that there was a secret, but that he didn’t say anything at all.

What was one even supposed to do in such a situation? Everyone was allowed their privacy and their own secrets, and as long as Nori wasn’t betraying Dwalin or keeping something that affected him silent, Dwalin couldn’t even righteously insist to know.

The night Dwalin was finally sure was one after not seeing Nori for two weeks. Dwalin was supposed to take a late shift and since he had nobody waiting for him he didn’t mind. Once he returned home through the empty and silent streets he found it occupied already.

Nori was startled when Dwalin walked in, staring at him wide-eyed but then he relaxed and smiled, as he always did. He looked exhausted, his braids ruffled and dark rings under his eyes, his clothes were in disarray as if he had travelled quickly without taking care of his looks too much. 

Dwalin put his things aside, then went to hold Nori for a bit, just enjoying the feeling of having him in his arms after the brief period they hadn’t been together. 

“I was so tired, I just wanted to go somewhere where I could rest,” Nori told him when Dwalin asked why he hadn’t gone to his own home. “And your place is sa… nice.”

He cuddled closer to Dwalin and purred happily. Dwalin led him to the bed then, helping him take of his heavy travel coat and then went to fetch some water.

When he returned Nori had dropped all but his pants and his tunic, sighing contently as he leaned against the bedframe. There were some bruises on his arms, and his clothes were a little torn.

“How did you get these?” Dwalin asked and gently took Nori’s hands in his, examining his arms. The bruises didn’t look serious; perhaps they only ached a little and at least they didn’t look like traces from a fight. If they had, Dwalin would have had to put his knuckledusters to use. 

“From walking home through the mountains,” Nori shrugged. “Not all valleys and mountains are that good to get through without falling once or twice.”

Falling and tumbling down some rocks did fit the sort of injuries Nori had, so Dwalin didn’t question that.

“Why didn’t you take the roads?” Dwalin asked, frowning. The roads usually were safe and easy to cross, unless there had been bad weather. Dwalin wasn’t entirely sure about how it had been the past week.

Nori gave him a crooked smile.

“Didn’t feel like meeting anyone and I wanted to be on my own. You know how I can get.”

Dwalin’s frown deepened, but he gently let go of Nori’s hands and stood. 

“I have some salve for this,” he said, leaving Nori to lean back further and sink against the pillows.

The medical supplies Dwalin kept at home were in a shelf opposite from the bed, so Dwalin went to kneel down and open it to search for what he needed. Nori’s travel bag leaned against the shelf he needed, so Dwalin took it to push it aside. 

Behind him on the bed there was a soft rustling, and Dwalin pushed the bag just a little too hard, causing it to shift and topple over. Normally Dwalin wouldn’t have cared, but the bag was open and as it fell some of Nori’s things rolled out. A pair of spare socks knotted together, a shirt, a comb and Nori’s favourite pipe, some twigs and a necklace.

It wasn’t a very pretty necklace, Dwalin could tell that much, Elf made, but with well chosen beautiful silver and diamonds, tiny and catching what little light there was in Dwalin’s house. As such it wasn’t anything special, the work was flimsy and probably not even made by one of the Elvish masters at that. Nothing a Dwarf would buy for the art it wasn’t. 

The silver was beautiful though, and one would be able to sell the diamonds at a good price in black markets. The piece was perfect for that, easy to break apart, to make use of the bits and pieces. It was a thief’s dream loot.

Dwalin looked at the necklace, then back towards the bed. Nori was sitting up, wide eyed, tense, shoulders drawn into a defensive position and he looked like he was ready to run, but also _afraid_. That look was more than enough confirmation.

Dwalin didn’t say a word, grabbed the items that had fallen out of the bag and shoved them back inside unceremoniously. Then he set it aside and opened the shelf to take out some soothing salve and a few bandages to keep the bruises covered with it.

He returned to the bed, put down the bandages by his side and gently took Nori’s hands again, making him flinch and then relax into the touch again.

“If you are hurt and too exhausted to get back to your den,” Dwalin started, voice nearly a growl and he didn’t quite mean it to be, “I will take care of you. I will patch you up and make sure you’re safe. If there’s loot on you and you couldn’t help it, I won’t _see_ it, but I will _not_ have any of it in my house longer than necessary.”

He didn’t look up as he carefully put some salve on Nori’s bruises and wrapped them up, but he knew that Nori was watching him, listening.

“I will not say anything about you to anyone. I don’t _know_ what you’re up to, and I won’t tell anyone if they asked.”

He was done with the bruises he had seen, and packed away the salve and the bandages to rest on the bedside table. Only then did he look up, to see Nori watching him with a strange expression and eyes shining.

“I don’t know what you _do_ , but I know you, and as long as you don’t harm Dwarves too much that’s good enough for me.”

Nori’s shoulders slumped and he leaned forwards, holding on to Dwalin.

“I’m not harming Dwarves more than necessary,” he whispered. “But I promise you, you won’t need to do your job on me.”

“Good. I can live with that.”

He nearly crawled into Dwalin’s lap, cuddling up to his front and Dwalin couldn’t help but hold him closer.

“Are you sure that you can… live with this?” Nori asked, his fingers curling around strands of Dwalin’s hair.

“I love you,” Dwalin told him. “I think I can at least _try_ if I can turn a blind eye on this.”

Nori looked incredibly relieved when Dwalin said that, and he gave him a quick kiss. He was tense and tired though, so Dwalin picked him up and pushed him back against the pillows, and pulled blankets over him, even though Nori protested.

Nori fell asleep while Dwalin was still putting away the bandages. He ignored Nori’s bag completely, not even looking towards it, then got undressed and climbed into bed as well.

Dwalin wasn’t sure whether he could just ignore the criminal activities of someone he loved. He really shouldn’t do that, shouldn’t even give Nori another chance. And here he had even named terms at which he’d tolerate Nori’s behaviour. Nori didn’t look like he _needed_ gold so desperately to turn to crime, and he did have a craft, and ways to find proper work after all.

But Dwalin did wonder whether he would end up doing anything if Nori broke the terms. He _loved_ him. And he wasn’t sure whether he could even care too much, now that he was certain at least. He’d have to ask more about why and how, he had to, but as Dwalin lay awake and watched Nori sleep he already suspected that he’d never turn Nori in, no matter what.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> about Nori cooking his mother's soup and burning down the kitchen. Nori is a decent cook, but said soup requires a lot of frying of ingredients, and Kori had always failed to not burn at least one thing....


	14. Queen

Dwalin had never been ashamed of Nori, of loving him, and he had never felt angry or wanted him to change.

He had been just a guard at first, then a captain, and he knew that his partner was a thief and probably wouldn’t change on his own. He wasn’t doing it because he had nothing else to live of, Nori did it because he was good at it and he was paid well for taking things, and because he _liked_ it. 

Dwalin didn’t understand, he didn’t approve of crime; he didn’t want Nori to harm all the people he didn’t care about. But he couldn’t help it, he couldn’t even be angry about loving Nori; he’d never even considered trying to break up. 

Dwalin only sometimes felt angry with himself, about how _he_ behaved. He didn’t _mind_ fucking a thief, he didn’t mind kissing him and holding him in his arms and telling him that he loved him and meaning it more after each time he said it. 

He helped Nori when he was hiding from someone, and he promised him to make sure he was safe as well, and sometimes he listened to Nori’s stories, sometimes he didn’t stop Nori when he told him about what he had stolen and when. He didn’t want to know, he should know, he wasn’t supposed to know anything that’d make the situation even worse for a guardsman, but Dwalin couldn’t help but smile at it and feel

proud of his clever little thief.

In the end it was just something Nori did, nothing special, even if it was what Dwalin was paid to prevent. He didn’t even think about it, just went on as before but without including Nori in his work as a guardsman.

They lived their lives and Dwalin was happy, and Nori wasn’t afraid of being rejected because of this anymore, though he sometimes seemed sad about all of it.

Years passed and Dwalin started to consider Nori his family, started to talk to him about everything, including all of his family matters. He spoke of Thorin’s ambitions and dreams for a better future, about how he and his cousins missed Erebor.

They’d lie awake and Nori would talk about his brothers and what he remembered about his childhood on the road, and Dwalin would hold him and not say a thing.

Then there were nights when Dwalin talked about the plans, about signs and opportunities to reclaim Erebor, and how he would follow Thorin with no questions asked, but how so few were ready to march. Nori would listen and stroke Dwalin’s arm and offer comfort when Dwalin was angry or frustrated.

When Thorin started to ask for those who’d go with him to reclaim Erebor, and when nobody came, Dwalin told Nori about it, and the next day Nori told him that both he and his brothers would be ready to go.

That was when Dwalin got so proud of Nori, it nearly hurt. To see him so loyal to the crown, to see him journey and fight and get along with a small company, with the King. To see how he and all else were ready to do anything to protect each other and Thorin especially, to see how despite being the least honourable of them all, Nori still was a good Dwarf, and one who was honourable when it mattered. It made him know for sure that he couldn’t have chosen a better Dwarf to love.

What few worries Dwalin had had about Nori being a thief became irrelevant once they had Erebor, when they, and all Dwarves who had once fled from Smaug, could start their life anew.

“I’d use my skills gladly, if it’s for the royal fools,” Nori said when Balin had asked him whether he wished to work for the crown. Nori’s past crimes had been erased, since he was a hero of Erebor, and he wouldn’t have to give up on doing what he loved. He’d still steal and lie and do all sorts of illegal things, but he’d do it in the name of the crown, as Erebor’s Spymaster.

“My new duties will be just in line with the family tradition!” Nori had joked after that had been announced to the company. Dori had frowned and looked away, but Ori had started laughing at the comment, while Dwalin was left to wonder what that meant.

Nori started helping Balin and Ori then, started listening for whether anyone he knew would return to the Lonely Mountain, and Dwalin started preparing everything for when a proper guard would be needed. They didn’t even bother looking for separate houses, just chose one they both liked and moved in together, and life was perfect then. Peace, and prosperity after so long of both being so hard earned in Ered Luin.

Nori seemed to be unhappy more than he had ever been in the Blue Mountains though, something Dwalin only noticed after a few months. He had thought that any sadness was because of the Battle, because of everyone still recovering from injuries. Nori never explained what bothered him though.

He often left the house at odd hours, and when Dwalin went to search for him he always found him sitting in the cold of the battlements, always facing west. Nori insisted that he wasn’t homesick, but he still kept doing that, so Dwalin brought him a beautiful dark fur cloak, so that he’d at least be warm when he snuck off on his own.

There were days when they walked through the streets, trying to see what they could recognize from before. There was a part of the city that had a lot of destroyed houses; broken by Smaug or by falling rocks the dragon had tossed around as he flew through Erebor. 

It was a bitter sight, and Dwalin considered turning back when they got there, but Nori let go of his hand, slipped away, and disappeared between the rubble of a large house that might have been part of some training grounds before.

“I remember this,” Nori said, looking around. “I was here as a wee lad.”

“What’s that place then?”

“This used to be a guardhouse. I recognize it.”

Dwalin stared at him, speechless. Why would a child as young as Nori had been ever be inside a guardhouse? He didn’t ask, but followed Nori as he pointed everything out, waved to where the prisons were and told how he remembered the corridors of the entire building to be intimidating, especially with the guards and their weapons.

Another time Dwalin and Nori were sitting on the couch in front of their fireplace, not doing anything. Nori was tired after an entire night of talking to the soldiers from the Iron Hills, and Dwalin’s shoulder ached where it had been injured during the battle in front of Erebor’s gate. He was stroking Nori’s braid lazily, and Nori was leaning against his chest, so Dwalin thought they both could just fall asleep like that.

“Do you think you could have tolerated me if you weren’t in love with me?” Nori whispered then. “Do you think someone as honourable and law-abiding as you, and maybe even a guard at that, might have accepted a thief if they weren’t lovers?”

Dwalin was too tired and his thoughts were fogged by willow bark, so he had no idea how to reply to that.

“You are my love,” he told Nori and gingerly pulled him closer. “But you are also the most honourable and good Dwarf I know. Anyone who’d get the chance to get to know you better would see that.”

Nori still didn’t look entirely happy with the answer, so Dwalin kissed his forehead.

“I don’t know how things would have gone between us, but yes, I think people might.”

Nori sighed and pressed his face against Dwalin’s neck, but he relaxed so Dwalin thought that it should be all right. 

Nori never explained anything, and Dwalin let him be.

Late in the first summer after the reclamation, all three Ri brothers started to get excited about the approaching caravans, and Ori was constantly talking to the Ravens, asking them to do him a favour and send more messages than usual.

“Family’s returning!” he told Dwalin when he nearly ran into the warrior on accident, and he was gone too quickly to let Dwalin ask him more.

Nori didn’t speak about it much, but he smiled when Dwalin asked, and said that he had missed his mother and was glad that she could see Erebor once more. Dwalin was happy for him, and a little bit envious since his own mother would be returning later, perhaps next year, with how she still had things to do in Ered Luin.

The morning the caravan was supposed to arrive in Erebor, Dwalin had been visiting Óin, but he had promised himself to go with Nori, should he want him around. Ori was nowhere to be found, and Dori was preparing a welcoming feast, but Nori was still at home.

Dwalin went to fetch him, wondering whether he should offer to stand by his side or whether that would be intruding into family matters.

The house was quiet when Dwalin returned, and it took him some time to figure out where Nori was. He found him in the dressing room, one neither of them really had to use much. Dwalin wanted to speak to Nori, and tell him that the caravan could already be seen from the battlements, but he hesitated as he noticed what Nori was wearing. 

It was a uniform, metal and boiled leather and pretty but out-dated symbols all over, old, but someone must have polished it and taken care of it recently. Dwalin recognized it as the old uniform of Erebor’s city guard, but only because he had to know his way around these things, to anyone else it’d just be a simple uniform.

Nori’s hair was braided but in a much looser way than usual, falling over his back in a pretty red-brown tail, and he was holding his favourite two knives, flicking them absentmindedly. It was his expression that really made Dwalin wonder about the unusual getup. 

Nori looked… completely dumbfounded as he stared into the large mirror, as if he had seen a ghost. He didn’t move, apart from his hands, and Dwalin cleared his throat.

“Are you alright?” he asked, and Nori turned his head slowly, still glancing at his reflection.

“Sure, why, what happened?”

“The caravan is nearly here, if you want to go and greet them?”

Nori’s eyes widened, he took a step towards Dwalin, hesitated, glanced back at where his usual clothes lay, turned towards them, then frowned and looked at Dwalin.

“I’ve got not time to get changed, do I?” he asked, nervously.

Dwalin shrugged.

“They’re close, but if you feel like it?”

Nori hesitated for another moment, then sighed and tucked his knives into their sheaths on the small of his back.

“All right. Lets go then.”

Dwalin followed him, not quite sure about whether he was wanted around.

“Do you want me to come…”

“Please.”

They walked together, down from the quarter around the palace where they lived towards the main tunnel of Erebor and to the gates where all caravans had been welcomed so far. 

There were soldiers there, and Dwarves who’d be reunited with their friends and loved ones, and some who were just curious or wanted to help the newly arrived families. 

Nori was visibly nervous as they stood and watched the caravan come closer, as if he was bracing himself for something. But he stood proud and there was also a longing in his eyes. Dwalin wasn’t sure whether he should try to comfort Nori, or give him space.

He just stood close to him, in the end, and watched the Dwarves come closer, watched the families and the little children of whom there were so few in Erebor. He saw merchants and families who had only taken what they could carry on their backs or with a wagon, he saw simple workers and those who were warriors or nobles, and tried to guess who they were, and whether they had once been of Erebor or wanted a completely new start. Some looked up at the mountain with wonder, others with tears in their eyes and longing in their faces, others looked straight ahead, at the Dwarves who were waiting at the gates.

Dwalin stood still and watched, and by his side Nori didn’t show any reaction of seeing anyone he knew.

As Dwalin looked over who was coming, one Dwarrowdam caught his eye.

She was an older Dam, and though her clothes were simple she had something regal about her. She sat wrapped in shawls, on a small wagon pulled by a pony, and another, younger Dwarrowdam was walking next to it, one hand on the beast’s side.

She was a beautiful Dam, her hair braided into a complex net and shining like mithril, and she looked kind, and warm. Her clothes weren’t remarkable, Dwalin couldn’t have told what trade she was in based on them, or who she was, but her shawl was something else.

It was purple, and as they came closer Dwalin saw that there was a pattern of knots he knew too well on the fabric. He had seen it countless of times in his time as a guard, and since the Dam was wearing them on her shawl like this, open and as big as the pattern was, it could only mean one thing.

She was the Queen, the one the guardsmen knew and respected despite knowing that they shouldn’t. 

She was the one who both aided young thieves in all of the Blue Mountains, and aided the guard. She was the one who helped thieves escape, the one who provided bail, sometimes, when nobody else would. She was also the one who casually let the guard know when something bad was about to happen she didn’t approve of, the one who’s knot was sometimes found on beaten up Dwarves who the guard had looked for just to find them on their doorsteps. 

No thief ever called her Queen, but the guard had to give her _some_ name.

As the captain of the guard Dwalin had dealt with that before, had begrudgingly accepted her existence at first, and had later respected her and been grateful for how she made their work easier and generally controlled and moderated her subjects. 

Dwalin watched the wagon approach, and he wondered why she would have left the Blue Mountains. She was younger than he had expected her to be, and if she had been the same Dam through all the years she must have started young. It was impressive, really.

Dwalin wondered whether he should approach her, whether he should talk to Balin first or maybe even ask Nori, since he might know her.

Before Dwalin could decide anything the Dam turned her head and look his way, eyes widening slightly, and she leaned down to speak to her companion. The wagon stopped and she climbed down, movements fluid and graceful as a cat. 

She walked towards him, and for a moment Dwalin wondered whether she had recognized him as the captain of the guard. Then Nori let out a soft breath and stepped forwards, visibly forcing himself to walk slow, and the Dam was walking towards _him_.

“Kit!” she breathed, “oh my little kit!”

She stopped before Nori, arms half outstretched and she was staring at him, looking him over, staring at the uniform and at his braids. Nori’s fingers twitched as she did so, in the way that told Dwalin that he was anxious.

Finally the Dam shook her head, as if she had been lost in thought and then she pulled Nori into a hug, holding him and laughing.

“Truly remarkable. You look just like your Da like this. I didn’t know any of these uniforms even existed anymore!”

“I found them and repaired it as well as I could. I wanted to try and find something to-,” Nori mumbled but she took his face in her hands and laughed.

“That doesn’t matter! Look at you, my little kit, hero and Lord of Erebor! And your brothers are as well! You look well, too! Oh, Nori.”

She pulled him down into a hug and Nori wrapped his arms around her, let her pet his braids, let her coo and laugh over him. 

“I’m so proud of you. He would have been, too, he always was, but he’d be _so proud_ now.”

Dwalin stood by, as the caravan walked past them, watched how the tension drained from Nori’s shoulders and how happy his laugh sounded as he joked with the Queen, how he looked more at ease than he had been for months. Dwalin felt like he shouldn’t been there, like he should give them the privacy one could get out in the open and next to so many.

Finally Nori pulled away, smiling, and glancing over his shoulder at Dwalin, and the Queen was watching him now as well.

“Dwalin, this is my Ma, Kori. Ma…”

“Dwalin,” she said, slowly drawing his name out, “cousin of the King, Lord of the line of Durin and hero of Erebor. And the captain of the guard in Ered Luin, right.”

Her smile turned into a wolfish grin as she looked Dwalin over and then looked up at her son. Nori’s lips quirked but he looked pleased, and Kori didn’t look at Dwalin as if she was disapproving of him.

Dwalin wasn’t sure what to do, so he just bowed, as it was appropriate in front of a Lady, deeper even.

“I am honoured to finally meet you,” he said.

Kori’s eyebrows rose and she glanced at her son.

“He knows, yes? Well, one would expect the captain to recognize the signs. I like that.”

Kori seemed pleased by it though, and gave Dwalin a warm smile. Then she linked her arm with Nori’s and patted his shoulder.

“Now then, I have two other sons I haven’t seen in over a year. What are we waiting for?”

Nori led her towards the gates, and Dwalin followed them. As he passed Nori gave Dwalin a warm smile, and somehow Dwalin felt like he had passed some sort of test.

He walked behind his thief and his mother, Erebor’s Spymaster and Ered Luin’s Queen of Thieves, trying to understand what that meant.

Of course he had known that his lover was a good thief, a professional even, but how was he supposed to know that he had learnt it from his mother? His mother, who apparently was the Queen of Thieves. He had know of her, had respected her, but otherwise he had never thought she’d ever be anywhere near him. And now he had fucked her son.

The thought nearly made Dwalin snort, but he kept quiet and followed the two like he usually shadowed Thorin.

He had managed to get the Spymaster of Erebor and such a famous thief to be part of his life, and he hadn’t even tried. It would mean more contact with trouble than was reasonable for the captain of the guard, of course it would. There was no way both of the Ri’s professions wouldn’t attract all of it.

Dwalin watched Nori’s back, watched how his braid swung back and forth as he walked, watched how he laughed and looked to his mother, happy and content. 

He knew that his life would be full of trouble, and he couldn’t be happier about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The End
> 
> thank you to everyone who stuck around till the last chapter! :'3

**Author's Note:**

> A long time ago I said I started writing a Mama Ri centric story. This isn't it, this is an entirely unrelated interpretation, but it is fun to write.
> 
> blame the kink meme for being too good an inspiration


End file.
